


The Crisis //Ninjago x Fem!Reader//

by cowboysrappin



Series: The Crisis [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Abduction, Damsels in Distress, Drama & Romance, Earth, Elemental Magic, Empathy, Eventual Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Fire Powers, Good and Evil, Ice Powers, Jewelry, Love, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Ninja, Orphans, Reader-Insert, Rescue, Romance, Thunder and Lightning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-01-16 12:56:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 36,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18521986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cowboysrappin/pseuds/cowboysrappin
Summary: You first meet the ninja because of a tragic event. You don't think you'll ever meet again, and you don't care. You shut yourself out of the world and swear to never love again. But another unfortunate circumstance throws you and the ninja into each other's lives. You are fighting for survival, but realize something. You have a huge crush on each of the ninja, and all of them have huge crushes on you. What are you going to do? Go with Jay? Cole? Lloyd? Zane? Kai? Stay true to your oath?......Why are you looking at me? I don't know. I'm not you!





	1. The Past

_Your_ _POV, 6 Months Ago_

You looked at the man in front of him. He was tall and handsome. His messy black hair covered part of his face. You giggled.

"What is it, y/n?" Roy asked.

"You need a hair cut, silly!" you said as you brushed his hair out of his face. You pulled his head in for a kiss. He kissed you back.

"What did I ever do to deserve you y/n?" he asked.

"Oh, I dunno. You stopped that mugger from taking my bag in Jumanikai Village, I seem to remember," you said.

"Oh, yes! I remember! I remember being disappointed. My girlfriend had just broken up with me. I was upset, when I heard a yell and saw a dude being chased by the most gorgeous girl ever. The dude had taken this girl's satchel. So I ran off to help her." He kissed you again. "It was worth it."

"I'm glad to hear I'm worth it," you said with a smile. You continue to walk down the street of New Ninjago City, fingers entangled in his. "C'mon!" you said, dragging him to your favorite part of the city.

You walked through the gate and slowed down. You went to the statue of one of Ninjago's heroes. Zane, the White Ninja, Master of Ice. Titanium Ninja, as Cyrus Borg called him. This was his memorial.

Of course, he wasn't _dead_. Not anymore. Though, you supposed he wasn't alive, since he was a nindroid.

You enjoyed this area because it was peaceful and reminded young what the Ninja had done for you and Ninjago.

You and Roy sat down next to the statue of Zane. Your boyfriend pulled out a brown paper sack. "Look at what I got?"

"Puffy potstickers!" you shouted with joy. They were your favorite.

"You know it!" he said with a smile as he handed you some chopsticks and a box of potstickers, as well as throwing you a fortune cookie.

The two of you are your potstickers in piece. When you had finished, you lifted your fortune cookie. "Let's read our fortunes!" you said. You broke your cookie in half and took out the little slip of paper. "You first!" you said without even looking at your fortune.

Roy looked at his slip of paper and read in a mock theatrical voice, "Sunshine is a joy that you must enjoy."

"That's not even a fortune!" you said giggling.

"I know, right! What does yours say?" he said as he set his fortune down underneath a chopstick, with the small typed blue lettering on top.

You looked down at your fortune. It's written in sloppy red handwriting, which was weird. The fortune it told was weirder. "We found you, y/n l/n. No more hiding! You're coming with us," you say with a look of concern.

Roy suddenly got up. "I heard a stick snap."

 _Oh_ _frick_ you thought. You had no idea what was going on. Suddenly you and your boyfriend were surrounded by men in black masks. They all had blades. "Y/n l/n! You're coming with us!" one of them said.

"No she's not," Roy shouted. "Stay back!"

"You got yourself a lover! Wow, this'll be splendid!" another man shouted. " _You_ stay back if you wanna live, lover boy!"

You were terrified. What did these guys want with you? Roy was _pissed_. You had never seen him so angry. Suddenly he launched himself at the closest attacker. The man seemed surprised but easily dodged the attack. Another man punched Roy in the face while the man he attacked kicked his knees. A third man showed up with a knife. You watched in horror as the man you loved was stabbed in front of you and was deposited in the ground next to you.

You choked back tears as you knelt by him. "R-run!" was his last word.

"It's a shame. One wasted death," one of the men said. Another man, the one who Roy leapt on, wrapped his left arm around your arms and chest and held a knife up to your throat with his right. "You're ours now, girl," he whispered in your ear. He started to drag you away to a van parked nearby, when a voice made him stop.

"Stop right there!" the voice said.

The men turned around. Five men stood there. One wore red and had a sword, one in blue with nunchucks, one in white with shurikens, one in black with a scythe, and one in green, who appeared to be unarmed.

"Let her go!" one of the ninja said.

The leader of the attackers laughed. "Like we would, ninja! If you want her, come and claim her!" There were seven attackers. One has you in his grasp, one was the leader, and the other five were minions. The five minions marched over to the ninja, swords and knives at the ready. The ninja fought and quickly disabled the attackers.

"That the best you got?" the blue one, Jay, asked.

Ten more men jumped out of the trees, with full body armor and double bladed swords.

"You had to ask," the red one, Kai, said.

In a flash of color, the ninja shouted "NINJAGO!" and started using Spinjitzu. The ten new men fell in crumpled heaps on the ground. The white one, Zane, threw a shuriken at the man holding you , knocking the man out, but pulling you down too since his arms were still around you. Cole ran to help you up and protect you as the other ninja circled the leader.

"You ninja are just a mild annoyance. 'Til we meet again, y/n," he said. He threw a smoke bomb at his feet. You and the ninja started coughing. When the smoke cleared, the attacker was gone.

You ran to your boyfriend's dead body. You _loved_ him, but he was cruelly taken away from you. You didn't want to cry in front of the ninja, your heroes, but you couldn't keep the tears in. Tears of fear of your life, of stress of almost being kidnapped, and tears of grief. You sobbed into Roy's body, stroking his hand.

You felt a hand in your shoulder. You looked up to see the ninja also sat next to Roy. "I, I'm sorry. We shoulda been here to stop this," the green one, Lloyd, said. He had a deep look of regret and remorse.

"It, it, it wasn't your fault," you said between sobs. You and the ninja sat there  underneath Zane's statue with Roy's lifeless body for a while. Not much was said. They didn't ask you questions about it, they just were there for you. You knew these men were heroes, but you didn't know they were this... _caring_.

After a while, one of them spoke up. "We better get you home and him to a morgue," Zane said with concern in his disembodied voice. You nodded solemnly. Jay held out a hand and you took it. He helped you up and put an arm across your back, pulling you toward him. Roy used to always do that. It hurt for someone else to do it, but you knew Jay was just trying to help so you went with it.

"C'mon, I'll walk you home," Jay said.

Each of the ninja have you a hug before you and Jay left. As Kai hugged you, he whispered in your ear, "I'll be looking out for you. You'll be safe."

Cole picked up Roy's dead body and placed him on his back. "We'll get him to a morgue and call his family."

"Thank you," you said, still in shock over what had happened.

You and Jay walked to your apartment together in silence. You cried into his shoulder at every crosswalk when you had to wait for cars to pass. He just hugged you and said some cheesy comments. But you didn't really listen. There isn't much you can say to a girl who just watched her boyfriend get murdered in front of her while trying to protect her. When you got to your apartment building he walked you up the steps to your room. You unlocked it and was about to go in when he stopped you.

"Let me check. Those creeps might be here," Jay said. He entered the apartment and checked around. He came back to the door. "All clear!"

You walked in and sat down on the couch without even closing the door. Jay noticed and closed the door and sat down next to you. "Is there anything I can do for you? Anything?" he asked.

You shook your head. "I, I just wanna get some sleep." Jay lead you to the bedroom. He stood outside as you dressed into your PJs. You opened the door when you were changed and lied down on your bed. The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Jay said. You lied down and cried into your pillow. Jay came back with the rest of the ninja.

"We sorted out everything with Roy, y/n," Cole said.

"I'm so sorry," Lloyd said softly. The other ninja said stuff like that to you too.

"Guys? Can you stay here until I fall asleep?" you ask. They said yes and pulled chairs into your room. You cried yourself to sleep, with your last thought being a promise. A promise to never love again in honor of Roy King.

_Zane's POV_

I threw exited my Spinjitzu and looked at the beautiful girl, pinned in a man's arms with a knife at her throat. I needed to save her. I chucked my shuriken at the man's head. He crumpled to the ground with a thud, taking y/n with him. Cole ran forward to help her, so I turned my attention to the monster that did this. 

He wouldn't get away with this.

_Cole's POV_

I rushed to her. The man Zane had knocked out still had his arms around y/n, and she was too shocked to move them. He bent down and threw the man's arms off of her and pulled her up. He kept her behind him. The mastermind vanished and I looked at the cute y/n. She sprinted to the dead body of Roy King and cried. I slid over to her with the rest of the team. 

Y/n was going through something very few have and ever will. Why must it always be the good?

_Jay's POV_

I walked her home with a heavy heart. Here boyfriend had died, how could the gorgeous y/n recover? She was almost kidnapped at knife point while her love was killed. 

She cried _a lot_. Not that I blamed her. Whenever I saw a drinking fountain made her drink. She was losing a lot of fluids. By the end of it all Jay had to change because his shoulder was soaked with tears. 

Just before the team had left to save her, Nya had dumped him. Though y/n was dealing with much worse, Jay knew how it felt to lose a love. 

It hurt.

_Lloyd's POV_

I felt horrible. I let y/n's boyfriend die. Now y/n would live alone. Because of me.

When y/n asked us to stay with her, I wasn't surprised. I would've done the same thing. She cried and cried and cried. I didn't know what to do. When she fell asleep, I left a note on the nightstand about the situation with Roy. We left with heavy hearts. Never had I seen a more heart broken girl. That was so pretty. 

I felt horrible.

_Kai's POV_

I had told y/n I'd look out for her. That's what I did.

I would check up on her without anyone, even her, knowing. On the way to the grocery store, to the funeral, to her job as a waitress at a small diner. I checked on her everywhere.

I owed her that. A hot girl like her needed help.


	2. The Present

_Your POV_

It was six months since Roy was killed and you were saved. You are still heartbroken. Everyone tells you it will get better, but you are beginning to doubt that. After six months you should be able to eat puffy potstickers again. You haven't even gone into a noodle house since the day.

A small part of you wishes that the ninja never showed up, and that the attackers had killed you rather than tried to abduct you. Then you and Roy would be together forever.

You still wonder why they tried to take you. You told the ninja about your fortune cookie and how they knew your name. They got all worried and protective of you, but you just want to be alone. So they settled on giving you their phone numbers.

You had never called those numbers. Occasionally you'd get a call from Kai, but you ignored most of them. The ninja had more important things to deal with than you.

You walk up the stairs to your apartment, your h/l h/c in your face. You pull out your key and shoved it into the lock. You hear a voice from inside.

"Sh! Get ready! And remember no harm comes to l/n!" the voice said.

You pull out your phone. You dial Jay's number and put it up your ear. After a few seconds, you hear Jay's voice.

"Y/n? Wassup? Is everything okay?" Jay asks.

"Listen!" you say. "But be quiet. I'm putting you on speaker phone."

You press a button on your phone, turning the call settings to speaker phone. You press the phone to the door. But you don't hear anything. "Wish me luck," you tell Jay as you unlock the door and open it. You step inside quietly and cautiously. You see a man in a black mask sitting comfortably in your couch.

"Welcome, Miss l/n!" he said. You set your phone on the table by you in a position so the microphone and speaker won't be covered.

"This is _my_ house. You don't have a right to be here! Get out!" you say.

"Oh we intend to. But we'll need a little something first," the man said, his blue eyes shining with evil, his dark hair a mess, and you were sure he was smiling under that mask.

You would never give him that. "Who are you?!" you shout.

"Damien Malcom, at your service. But that isn't important. You are," he says, standing up.

Once he stood up five men come at you. "JAY HELP!" you shout. The men all have a grip on you. Damien walks over to your phone and looks at who you are calling .

"Oh, clever girl! But the ninja can't save you this time. Hopefully they don't end up like Roy," he says.

Realization flooded over you. "You! You killed Roy!"

"Oh, no, I didn't, that guy did," Damien says offhandedly, pointing to the guy who has pinned your torso to him.

"Why? Why did you kill him!" you shout in rage, angrily thrashing around in the men's grasp, trying to escape and make Damien pay.

"Oh, he was just a mild annoyance. I never intended to kill him," he says. "But I do intend on killing your new friends." He ends the call right as your window breaks and the Ninja hop in.

"Let. Her. Go," Kai demands.

"Can't, I need her," Damien says. One of the men lifts a towel to your face, covering your mouth and nose. You breath in the drug and go limp. The last thought you have before you drift into unconsciousness is a thought of fear, but hope that the Ninja can save you.

•••

_Jay's POV_

I pause my video game when I feel my phone vibrate in my back pocket. I pull out my phone to answer the call. I expect it'll be my mom, but it isn't. It's y/n. 

"Jay paused the game! That's a first," Kai says as he walks into the room.

"Shut up I am getting a call from y/n," I tell Kai.

"Y/n? She's never called me before...does she ever call you?" Kai asks.

"No! I don't know what's going on!" I say as I answer the phone. I hold the phone up to my face. "Y/n? Wassup? Is everything okay?"

"Listen! But be quiet. I'm putting you on speaker phone," y/n says. A moment later she adds "Wish me luck."

I give Kai a pointed look and put a finger to my lips. I turn my phone to speaker phone. What could possibly be happening to y/n?

"Welcome, Miss l/n!" a man's voice says.

"This is _my_ house! You don't have the right to be here! Get out!" Y/n shouts.

I look at Kai and he has the same worried face as I. Kai pulls out his phone and types something into it. "We gotta go!" I whisper yell to him. We had to save y/n. I don't know what's happening, but it isn't good.

Kai runs down to the other ninja while I run outside. I'm about...hmm, thirty seconds the rest of the ninja are here at my side. We simultaneously jump off the building. But, like, in a good way. We summon our elemental dragons. Kai and lead the way since we know the way best. We quickly land on the roof of y/n's apartment building.

Thank goodness, we aren't shouting to the hills right now and ACTUALLY BEING NINJA! Thank goodness I didn't say that out loud. l

Lloyd silently signalled the ninja to go. We crash through y/n's window (sorry y/n!) and make an awesome landing in her living room. Does y/n have security cams? 'Cause it'd be awesome if we got that landing filmed.

_Kai's POV_

"Let. Her. Go," I demand. Who is this creep? Why does he think he can go around like this without me stopping him?

"Can't, I need her," this Damien Malcom dude says while one of his men knocks y/n out.

"K, kids! We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Cole says. Our opponents pull out their weapons. "Huh, you wanna do it the hard way." We pull out our own weapons.

Lloyd is punching people into next Tuesday, Jay is zapping people out of doors and windows, Zane is freezing people, I am sending fire everywhere (sorry y/n!), and Cole was _dancing_? What the heck?! Well it was working, so you do you, Cole.

These guys are pretty good. Like, not anacondrai good, but still good. This will be harder than expected.

_Zane's POV_

_Behind you Zane!_ PIXAL shouts in my head. I turn around to find an opponent with a dagger three inches away from my face. Sucks for him, I'm a nindroid. That dagger won't work very well. Even still, I knock it out of his hand out of habit. I've been fighting since before I knew I was a nindroid. I chuck a shuriken at a man behind Lloyd. Lloyd jumps because he didn't expect the shuriken, but quickly recovers and tosses it back.

"Thanks man!" Lloyd shouts.

"My pleasure!" I shout back. These fighters are tougher than my processor estimated. This one guy attempts a kick and a punch at the same time while spinning midair. I knock him to the ground, but that move puzzles me.

"PIXAL!" I shout.

 _Several of these moves are_ _not a part of any fighting style I know. Nothing in all of Ninjago correlates. Be careful!_ PIXAL responds. So we have to deal with warriors who are using unknown attacks. This is off to a wondrous start. Whatever it is, they're good at it. The odds of saving y/n just went down 35%.

_Cole's POV_

Y'know what? I feel like dancing. Yes, I saw your judgemental look, Kai. If I wanna dance, I'm gonna dance. Turns out dancing is an excellent way to fight 'cause it catches your opponent off guard. This one guy looks at me in confusion. BAM! He's unconscious now. I hit him with my scythe. Dancing is fun.

I look around. Damien is just standing there with y/n I'm his arms. A smile on his face, he watches. I jump over this guy and land by Damien.

"Damien Malcom. You. Have. Failed. This. Dance-off," I say. "Am I the only one 'round here that can dance?"

Damien smiles. "Interesting use of energy."

"It's...strange," I admit. He has a point.

"Maybe. Who am I to judge?" Well, for being evil and all, he is pretty respectful.

I advance towards him. "Let her go. It'll be easier for all of us."

"I doubt it."

_Lloyd's POV_

I look and see Cole facing Damien. Damien has y/n in his arms. Cole moves forward, and in response Damien moves back. Behind Damien is there broken window and at least a ten story drop.

Then suddenly Damien walks off.

"NO!" I shout. I think Jay, Cole, Zane, and Kai do as well. We immediately drop what we are doing and run to the window. What I see is crazy.

Damien is stiff, still standing, well, _falling_ perfectly straight, y/n cradled in his arms. Suddenly a blue circle appears underneath him as he falls into it. It disappears and Damien and y/n are no where to be seen.

I know what that looks like. It looks exactly like the opening to the Cursed Realm, where my father is.


	3. The Girl

_Zane's POV_

They were all back on the Destiny's Bounty. Except for y/n. The ninja had failed y/n in letting Damien Malcom abduct her.

They had almost finished telling Sensei Wu, Misako, and Nya what had happened.

"So Damien is holding y/n, and the window behind him is broken so he steps off with her. Before I can even freak out, a blue portal appears beneath him and they go through it," Cole finishes.

"A blue portal?" Nya says in surprise.

"Just like the portal to the Cursed Realm," Lloyd adds.

"The Cursed Realm?" Sensei asks.

"Yeah. Misako, is it possible to open a portal to the Cursed Realm without the spell in Clous's spellbook?" Jay asks.

"Well, it's possible, but both possibilities are quite unlikely," Misako answers.

"What are the possibilities?" I ask.

"Well, the Realm Crystal probably isn't real?"

_A/N takes place in between the Tournament of Elements and Lloyd's possession FYI_

"Realm Cry-" Lloyd starts.

"It doesn't matter. Out of all of the crazy crap in Ninjago, it probably is just a myth," Misako says. "But, when Chen was trying to take everyone's elements, he didn't take everyone."

"What do you mean?" Kai asks.

"There are a few other elements Chen never looked for," Sensei says.

"Other elements?" I ask. This is getting too crazy for me, a nindroid.

"And Damien might be the master of realms," Misako explains.

"Master of realms? Can this guy just go in and out of the Cursed Realm when he wants to?" Cole asks.

"There are more realms than Ninjago and the Cursed Realm, Cole," Sensei says.

"Just how many realms are there?" Nya asks.

"Sixteen," Sensei responds.

"So Damien abducted y/n and took her to one of fifteen realms and we don't know which one he's in and how the heck to get to that realm!" Jay rants. "Do we even have an idea of how to get to wherever y/n is and save her? And heck we don't even know why Damien wants her, we just know he tried to kidnap her six months ago, is a killer, and will try to kill us!"

"Are you done?" Nya asks.

Jay sighs. "Yes."

"Now that you finished _that_ , we can actually figure out what to do," Nya says.

"I'm scanning all traffic cams in Ninjago, looking for Damien or anyone working with him," I say. I started it while Jay was doing his usual rant when something crazy happened. So far nothing out of the normal.

 _"Zane, I'm processing all databases looking for any information on this realm travel,"_ PIXAL says.

 _"Thank you,_ _PIXAL_ _,"_ I tell her.

I hope we find y/n fast. If Damien hurts her, I doubt he can escape us.

•••

_Your POV_

You slowly wake up after several hours. When you open your eyes your vision is blurry. All you see is a lot of shades of grey and black. Where the heck are you? 

You try to remember what happened. The guy who killed Roy, Damien Malcom, had been in your house. The Ninja had come to kick butt, or you assumed. Before you saw the actual fight Damien knocked you out. 

Did that mean that Damien had successfully abducted you? 

You stand up, but fall back down on the small cot you had slept on. Your vision began to darken. You thought you'd pass out again, but you don't. 

You get up more slowly this time. Your vision darkens for less than a second, but clears up and is even less blurry than before. 

You look around. There are grey walls surrounding you with a big black door leading outside. You figure it wouldn't work, but you try the door. It doesn't budge an inch. You look back at your cell. There's the cot you slept on, a small desk, and another black door. You try this door, and it opens up for you to see a bathroom.

There's not much to do, so you don't down on your bed with your back leaning against the cold wall. You are super bored. You have a bed, a table, and a bathroom. That's it.

You close your eyes. It helps you think. With your head resting against the wall, you try to come up with any reason why Damien would want you. The problem is that in Ninjago enough crazy things happen that it is impossible to narrow it down to a simple coherent reason. And half of your ideas are probably too unrealistic, like something you'd find in a movie or TV show.

After an hour you hear a click come from the door. You hear someone unlock the door. You stand up as three men walk into the room.

Damien enters the room with two bodyguards. You can't help but clench your fists in anger at the sight of Damien. This man killed the love of your life. Now he had kidnapped you.

"What the heck do you want?!" you shout.

"You'll find out in due time, y/n. But for now, I think I wanna keep it a surprise," Damien says. You hate villains. Always so annoying. "For now, you'll be staying here, my darling." At that Damien left the room and locked the door behind him.

 _Well, this is great,_ you think. You lie down on the cot and look at the ceiling. _This is splendid_.

You pray/hope (choose which word works best for you) that the Ninja will find you and kick Damien's butt.

After thirty minutes you're bored again. _Do something, y/n!_

You pull open a drawer of the desk. Inside it are clothes, pens, pencils, and a notebook. You grab the notebook. It's y/f/c and comes with a bookmark. You flip through the pages and it's blank.

You sit down at the desk and grab some pens and pencils. At least this will keep you occupied. You begin to sketch each of the Ninja. It gives you hope that they'll come since you can see them. You begin with Zane. It's interesting, drawing all of the components of the nindroid. You make every line perfect. You move onto Kai, Jay, Cole and Lloyd. Never have you worked so hard on your sketches. But it distracted you that's what mattered, not the attractiveness of the people you drew.

•••

_Zane's POV_

_"Zane! Traffic cam, southern Ninjago City! Damien is there!"_ _PIXAL_ _shouts._

I turn to the rest of the team. "PIXAL found Damien on the streets in southern Ninjago City!"

"Suit up!" Lloyd says. We all run to get ready. In precisely 30.537 seconds we are ready and jumping into the air to summon our dragons. 

We better find out where y/n is. We _better._


	4. The Realm

_Your POV_

You wait around in your cell. You have drawn in detail all of the Ninja now. You flip through your drawings often. It helps you to calm down, looking at them. I'm the notebook you also begin to write journal entries. They aren't dated because you have no idea how long Damien's held you captive. All you know is that you get meals often and aren't ever too hungry. There aren't windows in the cell, so you never know when it is day or night. You usually write in your notebook every other meal because for all you know that is a day.

You hold up the small tuna sandwich. It's not the best, but considering your circumstance you think it's pretty good. After that bite you open up your notebook to the sixth-seventh entry. You grab a pen and begin to write.

 _#67_  
_Still no idea what Damien wants or how long I've been here. I'm doing physically fine. I'm an emotional mess, and boredom is not helping. As I've written before, I hate knowing that Roy died because of this lunatic Damien. Damien wanted nothing with Roy. He wanted me. But Roy tried to protect me, and Damien killed him in front of me. If I had somehow convinced Roy to stand down or to run, he wouldn't be dead. It's not Damien's fault. It's mine. I'm the reason Roy is in a box six feet underground._  
_I hear footsteps. I haven't heard that for at least ten entries. Gotta go figure out what's happening._

When you finish the last sentence you shove the journal back into the drawer and stand up. You begin to pace around the small cell until you hear a click from the door. You turn to look at the door. In came Damien, this time without guards. "Hello darling," he said.

"What do you want?!" you shout at him.

"Testy, aren't we?" Damien jests. "I want _you_. You are the key to a little problem of mine."

"Not helping," you say.

"Oh, you will."

"How long have I been here?" you ask.

"Oh, that's a little complicated, y/n."

"What do you mean? I've been here a certain amount of days. How many?"

"That depends on perspective, darling. Ninjago's perspective, or this world's perspective."

"What the crap are you talking about?"

"Y/n, we aren't in Ninjago. Time is much faster here than in Ninjago."

"One, what the heckin'? Two, why the heckin'? Three, I wanna know both," you say after hearing Damien's confusing crap.

"Would you further elaborate what your first two questions mean?"

You sigh. Damien thinks he is funny, but it isn't for you. "What the crap are you talking about? Why the heck is this happening?"

"You remember how the Ninja fought the Anacondrai at the Corridor of Elders? And Garmadon went into the Cursed Realm to save the day or whatever cliché thing happened?"

"We're in the Cursed Realm?"

"Oh, certainly no! That realm is disastrous! I like this realm better. Y'see, there are several realms, so here ya go ya haven't been in Ninjago for a while. As for why, this realm is better suited to my needs than Ninjago is. And you've been here for, oh, three weeks if you're thinking like this realm. It's been, oh, about half an hour for Ninjago."

"I dunno if three weeks or half an hour is more outrageous! What the heck!" you shout. You've been here for less than a day, yet for three weeks, and you are pissed. Damien is the absolute worst.

"I can't answer that, darling. Well, I came to check and see if you were okay, and obviously you are, so enjoy the next few days...at least in this realm's time."

"Wait, what realm is this?"

Damien leaves without answering. Typical.

You're shocked. You aren't even in Ninjago! Which lowers the odds that the Ninja will find you.

You pray/hope they find a way to find you 'cause you're really starting to hate your life. You grab your journal and flip to your favorite drawing, a picture of Jay and study it. Hopefully he and the others show up soon.

_Jay's POV_

I fly across Ninjago City with the team towards the south. Zane had shouted so loud that I thought his diagnostics were broken when PIXAL told him that Damien was in the south end of Ninjago City. I've never seen him like that.

I hear a bunch of civilians cheering as we fly across the city. Once we get a few blocks away from where PIXAL found them we land in the rooftops. We do what ninja do best and sneak around until we are just above Damien. I listen to what they are saying.

"You, grab some pearls. You, grab some silk. And you, grab some papyrus," Damien orders the three men with him.

"What do they need pearls, silk, and papyrus for?" I think aloud.

"I dunno, it seems kinda random though," Kai responds.

"For all we know he is doing magic or whatever with the pearls, papyrus, and silk," Cole says.

"You sure 'bout that? Sure, he's an elemental master, but does he know magic?" Lloyd points out.

"It's possible, however unlikely," Zane says.

"Well, I vote we stop them, kick Damien's butt and find out where y/n is," Kai says.

"Hear, hear," I agree.

"One, two, three!" Lloyd says. At three we jump down and begin to fight. Cole, Zane, and Kai are fighting the men Damien had brought along. Lloyd and I are fighting Damien himself. And he's a good fighter. I throw a punch and land of only to get kicked in the shin. That hurt. Lloyd kicked his gut but Damien elbowed Lloyd's chest. We keep fighting 'cause Ninja Never Quit. All three of us get tired pretty fast though. Luckily, the three guys the others were dealing with are down now, so it's Five v One.

All of us are kicking, punching, and using our elemental powers. This is one of those moments you wish was being filmed.

_Your POV_

You sip some water as you write in your journal. It's probably been a week in this realm since you last saw Damien. You are on your third sketch of Jay now. You're drawing the mask down so you can see his kind face. You hear the door open and you set the journal down. "What is it?" you ask.

A man in black is standing there. He holds up a black gun and points it at you. You begin to freak out. You can't move your legs, and you see the man slowly pull the trigger. When the trigger is finally pulled, a white flash is in front of you. You feel something grip around your arms and legs. Suddenly you feel something flow through your body and you realize it is electricity. You fall limp and lose consciousness. You're last thoughts are hectic.

_Oh my gosh it wasn't a gun I'm not dead! But I'm being electrocuted! And I think I'm tied up! My gosh I hate you Damien! Please come Ninja!_

_Jay's POV_

Our fight continues for a long time. Like as long as an episode from a show on Cartoon Network. All six us of are pretty tired by now, but Damien is still holding up against the five of us pretty dang well.

 _When will this end?_ I ask myself. This is starting to get ridiculous. Suddenly I get a punch to the face.

"Oh come on! Can we hurry this up?" I shout.

Damien shrugs. "I mean, I haven't really been trying."

"I wasn't talking to you!" I shout.

"Chill Jay!" Zane shouts.

"You have a hot temper today, don't ya?" Kai asks.

"Oh, shut up!" I shout.

Usually I would probably be the one saying witty quips. I don't know why this is different though. I've fought skeletons, serpentine, stone warriors, nindroids, and anacondrai, all of which planned to take over, destroy, yata yata. As far as we know Damien isn't all about world destruction or whatever. All he's done so far is kill y/n's boyfriend and kidnap y/n. But that has me really pissed off.

Damien rolls back his shoulders. "Let's get interesting."

He starts to fight again, but this is harder. A lot harder. Kinda scary.

"Uh, nope!" Lloyd shouts before he throws a ball of energy at Damien, who opens a portal and sends the energy behind Lloyd. Well, that's just fantastic!

I throw some punches, toss some kicks, and zap Damien a lot. Electrocuting people always seems to work.

Except not now! I mean, it _kinda_ works. He slows down, but it's not the usual BAM UNCONSCIOUS I usually get.

Oh well, I guess I need to up the voltage. I just need to be careful to not _kill_ him because I still need him to tell me where y/n is. Did I say I? I meant we. Totally meant we.

I pull away from the circle of fist fighting and begin to focus on a super powerful lightning bolt.

"Jay! What are ya doing?" Cole shouts.

"I'm trying to finish this Cole!" I shout as the lightning bolt reaches the right voltage. Enough to knock Damien out, but not enough to kill him or damage his brain or whatever. Theoretically.

ZAP!

Kai, Cole, Zane, and Lloyd step back as the lightning is shot at Damien. It hits Damien square in the jaw and Damien lifts his hand to his jaw before he falls to the ground.

We step over to him. "Is he dead?" Kai asks.

"No, just unconcious," Zane reports.

"For how long?" Lloyd asks.

"A few hours," Zane responds.

"How are we going to stop him from making a portal to get out of here?" I ask. I hadn't thought that part through.

"I'm sure Nya can figure something out," Cole says. Way to bring up my ex, Cole.

"Yeah, okay," I say. Cole lifts Damien up and summons his elemental dragon. We all summon our dragons and fly back to base. I decide to risk texting and flying and grab my phone.

_Jay: Hey_ _Nya_ _do you happen to know a way we can disable someone's powers or something?_

_Nya: yeah maybe. Did you get Damien?_

_Jay: yeah we're flying him back to base he's unconcious_

_Nya: kk :)_

_Jay: :)_

At least Nya and I are still on a level where we can send emojis.

As we fly over Ninjago City back home, I feel a little better. That lightning bolt was for y/n, Damien. And we're gonna get her back no matter what.


	5. The Portal

_Cole's_ _POV_

I drop to the ground when we get back. I reposition Damien's limp body on my back and carry him to where Nya is. Jay had said something about her might being able to contain him.

"Hey, Nya, Jay said you might be able to keep him here without him, y'know, making a portal," I say.

"Oh, yeah, I do. If I can surround him in an area with just enough flowing energy, I can dampen his powers so that he can only go, oh, about an atom's distance," Nya explains. "I've got it ready for him, I just need Jay to help me with the electrical stuff."

"I heard my name!" Jay shouts as he walks over. "Wassup?"

"I just need some help with some electrical stuff for Damien," Nya explains.

"Yeah, no problem! Just let me grab an energy bar or something," Jay responds.

"Since when have you liked energy bars?" I ask. That is really more of Kai's thing.

"I've always liked energy bars, I just am not obsessed like Kai. Look, that lightning bolt I sent at Damien was a lot more than anything I've really ever done outside of a few other times, so I'm kinda low on energy," Jay says.

"Seems legit," Nya responds. "Meet ya in ten minutes."

"Cool beans," Jay says as he walks away to find Kai and force him to give up an energy bar.

"Do ya wanna put him in the room so that you don't have to carry him until Jay and I are done?" Nya asks.

"Yeah, that'd be great." Who knows how long it'd take them?

Nya leads me down the steps to the bottom of _Destiny's Bounty_. There is a small room we've never really used before, except for Lloyd and I hiding some important things... No one is getting my cake! And Lloyd don't want no one down eating his Nutella. We made a truce that we wouldn't go after each other's stuff and not tell anyone about the hiding spot.

I guess we'll have to find a new place, 'cause Nya just went right in.

"We don't use this room really. I figure no one will care if I make a power dampener here. Just FYI, this'll dampen all of your guys' powers, not just Damien's," Nya says.

"Crap," I mutter to myself.

"Hm?"

"What?" I say. I need to find a new place for my cake.

"Thought I heard you say something. What do think?" she asks.

"I think it is a good idea," I say. Except that I need my cake!

"Okay, good." This is so awkward. Jay and Nya split a while ago, and I had been the third part of that love triangle for a while. I had tried to put it all behind me. I get it, Nya chose Jay and that's that. But it still is kind of awkward right now.

"Well, great! Send Jay down here for me and you can leave Damien here!"

I don't try to set Damien down softly. I just let go. He doesn't deserve my kindness, so why should I try to be kind to him?

I walk back upstairs and see Jay with an energy bar. "Hey, Jay! Nya is down in the room we never use downstairs," I shout.

"'Kay! Thanks!" he shouts back. Now I've gotta find Lloyd. We need to brainstorm together where to put our cake and nutella.

_Your_ _POV_

You wake up. You're in a cell just like the last one; maybe it is the last one. You don't know why Damien needed you unconscious, but you assume it is because they needed to transfer you for some reason.

You get up and check the drawers of the desk. Your same notebook is there, but it looks like someone has gone through it. Pages are bent and corners are ripped. You would never do that to a notebook. Obviously there's some uncultured swine here.

You sigh and toss the notebook on your bed. You've been here for weeks (in this realm, you guess), and you still have no idea why Damien wants you or anything.

It feels like it's taking _forever_ for the Ninja to rescue you. Granted, it's been like a day in Ninjago. Still, you like your freedom.

Why does Damien want you? What are his plans?

_Cole's_ _POV_

"Yeah, we can put the cake and Nutella there," Lloyd says. We have found a new hiding spot for the cake and Nutella, we just need to transfer it from the previous spot aka Damien's cell to the new spot aka the floorboard in my room we can pick up and put stuff underneath.

We spend the next few minutes smuggling cake and Nutella to my room. Damien is still unconcious and Jay and Nya are taking a break from working on the cell.

It takes three trips. Each time, Kai gives us a weird look. He doesn't see the cake or Nutella, but notices we keep going up and down. On the last trip, Kai walks to us.

"Guys, you don't have to check on Damien every thirty seconds!" he says.

"Oh, yeah, we just are kinda... paranoid right now," I say, going along with the idea of us constantly watching Damien.

"Yeah, I mean, we don't know when he'll wake up, do we?" Lloyd says, also going along with it.

"Okay?" Kai says. "I'll stay down there with him then." Kai walks down the stairs. Lloyd and I run to my room and lock the door behind us.

"That was close," I say.

"No kidding," Lloyd agrees. For the next fifteen minutes we sit on the floor in my room and eat our cake and Nutella.

"What should we do?" Lloyd asks.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I mean, we have Damien, but that doesn't help unless he'll tell us where y/n is, but will he?"

I had been asking myself that same question for a while now. Sure, it's great that Damien isn't out in Ninjago or any other world, but that doesn't guarantee that he'll tell them where y/n is.

"Yeah, I've been worrying about that too," I say. "Y/n could be in any realm right now, and we can't even find a way to get out of this realm. Hope y/n is as okay as a kidnapped girl can be."

"Yeah, I don't know how okay okay is for her," Lloyd responds.

"Well, if she's hurt..." I let the phrase end, Lloyd fully knowing what I am thinking.

"Hey, Cole, you in there?" Nya asks from outside my door.

"Uh, yeah, just a second," I answer. Lloyd and I hide the cake and Nutella in the floor and cover them up to keep the dust out. We silently place the floorboards back down and I walk to the door. I open it and slip out, leaving Lloyd in my room. I shut the door. "Yeah, what is it?"

"Damien's awake. Figured you'd wanna be there. Do you know where Lloyd is? I know one else knows," Nya explains.

"Uh, yeah, I think I saw Lloyd heading to the...the bridge earlier," I say. I don't want people to know that Lloyd was in my room because that makes the possibility that our cake and Nutella will be found by the rest of the team.

"Oh, okay, I'll check. The rest of the team is downstairs."

"No, go ahead. I'll find Lloyd."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's nothing." Nya goes back downstairs. When she isn't in ear or eye shot, I pull my door open. Lloyd is standing right in front of me.

"Yeah, I heard. Thanks for covering me," Lloyd says.

"No problemo. Let's go downstairs." We sprint down the stairs and slide into the room with everyone else.

I'm impressed. Despite the lack of time, Nya and Jay really did turn this place into a prison. There was a bunch of wires and whatnot zip tied to the ceiling, and there was a blue tint to the prison.

"Dang," Lloyd says in surprise.

"Yup. Dang," I agree.

"You guys did this in a couple of hours?" Kai asks.

"Yeah, and we've done crazier stuff. But it's still impressive," Jay brags. Nya shoves her elbow into Jay's ribs. Jay winces and looks at her in surprise.

"You used an influx of energy to balance out Damien's energy?" Zane asks. Other than Jay and Nya, he is probably the only one that knows what the heck all of this stuff is.

"Yep," Nya answers.

"When you are finished!" Damien says. He is sitting on a small chair in the cell. He is sectioned off from us by glass that is slightly tinted blue.

We shut up. Everyone on board is here: Jay, Nya, Kai, Zane, Misako, Sensei Wu, Lloyd, and myself. We all stood, glaring at Damien through the glass at Damien.

"Where the crap is y/n?" I ask Damien harshly.

Damien smirks. "Nowhere you can find," he says lightheartedly.

"Knock it off! Where is she!" shouts Kai who is equally pissed off. I think all of us Ninja and Nya are pissed.

"Not in Ninjago."

"How do you travel across realms?" asks Misako, who legitimately sounds curious.

"How much do you know about the Elemental Masters?" Damien asks in return. Dodging the answer with his own question.

To answer his question, we know quite a bit about the Elemental Masters, both historical and current. I mean, Sensei is the son the the Great Spinjitzu Master, and we all are the descendants of the OGs, making us five of the current Elemental Masters. We met the others at Chen's Island and his Tournament of Elements when he casually tried to take over Ninjago by turning himself into a Serpentine. The usual.

"Yeah, what about them?" Jay answers.

"While you are the Masters of Earth, Fire, Lightning, Earth, Ice, and Energy, I am the Master of Realms," Damien explains. "I make portals. To Ninjago, the Cursed Realm, Jinjago, and other realms."

I'm getting angrier by the second. Yeah, great, there's an evil Elemental Master, yay! I just wanna know where y/n is. I hit my fist against the glass. "Where is y/n?"

"Feisty, aren't you, Master Cole? You'll find out soon." Damien responds calmly.

"We're a little low on patience," Lloyd adds.

"How the heck do _we_ travel amongst realms?" Nya asks.

"Honey, you can't. Only descendants of the first Master of Realms can."

My face must be as red as Kai because I'm _angry_. This guy is so full of himself, he's evil, _and_ he has y/n. At the same time, I'm getting paranoid. He is pretty confident for being imprisoned.

My dad is a singer, so I've learned some things about covering up nervousness. You can hide it really well, but never perfectly. There's always a tell tale sign of fear, but most people don't know what those signs are.

Damien shows none of those fears. It's almost like he wanted this....

But I'm just being paranoid. Right?

"Besides," Damien continues, "how do you know I'm not just going to portal myself out of here?"

"Just as we can't ever use portals without magic, you can't use your portals where you sit," Sensei explains calmly.

Damien lifts his arms up to do what I assume is how he opens up portals. Of course, nothing happens. Damien doesn't freak out or anything like that. He laughs.

"Oh, clever! You tried to override my powers!" He stands up and walks until he is a few inches away from the glass. Then he said the dreaded words.

"I'm sure you tried, but it was all in vain."

We all kinda freak out. A blue portal appears behind Damien and he walks through it. Suddenly my back is impacted. Jay's legs are swept from beneath him. We all turn around to fight Damien _again_. I'm not too confident about it since two out three times he's won.

I steady myself. Everyone else does too. Lloyd strikes first. He tries an undercut, which Damien blocks with ease. Nya slides along the floor to Lloyd's side and uses the weight of her body to deliver force to Damien's face via her elbow. Giving pay back for Damien's kick, Jay throws his knee into Damien's gut. Kai tries to sweep Damien's legs from underneath him, but Damien punched Kai in the jaw before he could. Zane threw a shuriken at Damien, but he grabbed me and used me as a human shield from Zane's shuriken.

I wince from the pain of the sharpness of the blades of the shuriken. Being _way_ stronger than Damien is, I break away from his hold on me. I stand a small distance away from him and pull a roundhouse kick, but instead of stopping after I hit his face, I follow through and spin until my leg is back on the ground. I keep my leg straight out and bend down while still spinning, knocking Damien's legs out from under him. He falls into a portal he creates.

I scan the area for him, and find him when he puts me in a choke hold. I take a deep breath and grab his back. I bend my own body and send him flying off of me. He flies into another portal and lands on his feet in the center of us.

Sensei and Misako team up to try to take Damien down, emphasis on try. Sensei's staff goes flying down the hall and Misako is punched in the gut. From behind Damien, Lloyd jumps into the air and lands on his knees on Damien's back. Damien stumbles and Kai slammed Damien's body into the wall.

Damien straightens. A smirk on his face, he begins to speak. "While this has been entertaining, I must be leaving."

Oh crap he's gonna leave! But I have an idea. Instead of letting Damien leave, we grab onto him when he's half way through the portal. Then he'll take us with him.

"Til we meet again," Damien says sinisterly.

"Follow my lead!" I shout.

Damien opens a portal and I dive for his arm with both arms when he's mostly through. Seeing the gist of my idea, Jay grabs onto my waist and holds tightly. Following the pattern, Kai, Lloyd, and Zane grab onto us.

"Are we pulling?" Jay asks.

"No. We're running forward."


	6. The Darkness

_Kai's POV_

I ran forward with the rest of the team. All five Ninja made it through the portal with Damien, but Nya, Sensei, and Misako did not.

We fall down about ten feet as we enter the new realm. It was as dark as night, and all six of us were there together.

Damien recovers first. "You're lucky it isn't night. That's when the fun begins."

I look around. It is dark, only enough light to see a few feet ahead of me. If this is day in this realm, I don't want to be here during the night.

I enter a ready position. Cole, Zane, Lloyd, and Jay follow. "Where. Is. Y/n," I ask harshly.

"You're a little closer to finding her. Somewhere in this realm. But I doubt you'll survive the first hour of night," Damien says before slipping through another portal.

I look to Zane. He's the one most likely to find a way to y/n in this realm. Hopefully Damien doesn't take her somewhere else....

"Zane? Can you find anything that can help us?" Lloyd asks.

"I'm running scans," Zane says. A few seconds later, he adds, "PIXAL found a building ten miles that way." He pointed northeast. "It's the only thing in a ten mile radius, and if what Damien says about the night is true, he wouldn't leave y/n out in the open."

"It's worth a shot," Jay says. "That's the only thing we know about this darn realm."

"Let's go save y/n," I say with determination.

"One problem!" Zane shouts.

"What is it?" Cole asks.

"It'll take us until after dark to reach the shelter. And night is supposed to be bad," Zane explained.

"Great! How can this get any harder?" Jay shouted.

There was a _ROAR_ heard from the distance.

"I think it just did, Jay," I say. A large blob monster comes at us.

"Oh crap!" Lloyd says. "I know what that is!"

"What?!" we all say in unison.

"My dad told me about where he went after he got all four of the golden weapons and opened a portal to somewhere else in space and time. It's supposed to be a place of pure evil, blah blah blah. This is the place!" Lloyd quickly explains.

"This is getting better and better," I mutter under my breath.

"Tell me about it!" Jay shouts.

"Shut up Jay! Shouting got us here in the first place!" Cole shouts at Jay.

"You just shouted!" Jay pointed out.

I slap my forehead in hand and sigh. Sometimes we are just plain _stupid_.

"Are you help us or are you just going to silently judge us?" Cole shouts at me.

"Both!" I say as I throw a ball of fire at the blob. Lloyd throws a follow up energy ball. Zane freezes the blob, and Jay and Cole team up to destroy the blob through electricity and super strength.

We take some time to recover from the attack. "We should get going," Lloyd said. "Dad told me the monsters come out at night."

"What is this? Minecraft of darkness?" Jay asks, clearly annoyed with everything.

"Think of it like that if you want, I guess," I say. Everyone is annoying me right now. They're being stupid and we need to focus on finding y/n, going back to Ninjago, and stopping Damien. "But can we _please_ focus on rescuing y/n?"

Everyone shuts up after I bring up y/n. Ever since Damien killed Roy, everyone has had a soft spot for y/n. We've saved countless people, but no one has stuck out as much as y/n. We've all been tight on edge. That's probably why we're all shouting at each other. It's because we are worried about y/n. We're anxious about her. If Damien hurt her, he's got five very angry people that'll hunt him down to the ends of the universe.

Zane leads us to the shelter on our elemental dragons. Once we get their, the 'sun' sets. "We can't take y/n out in the dark. It's too dangerous," Zane states.

"How 'bout we live up to the title of 'ninja' then," I say. We sneak into the building with ease. Almost like it's too easy.

We search for evidence of traps, but there are none. Throughout the entire building, there isn't a single person besides the Ninja. Zane and PIXAL examine the building. "This building was occupied a few days ago. They must've left here for some reason to another facility."

"Great! Absolutely great!" Jay shouts.

"Zane, can you scan for another building? We won't search until morning, but it's nice to have a starting point," I suggest.

"Will do," Zane says.

We set up a small camp with the supplies left behind. We drag six cots into the room. One for each of the Ninja and one for y/n if we have to go back here after we save her. We find some food we eat in silence before we climb into the cots and sleep.

Oh, if Damien hurts y/n, he'll regret it.

_Nya's_ _POV_

I try to grab onto the Ninja line, but it is too late. Damien pulls the five of them in before Sensei, Misako, or I could go. Damien shuts the portal and leaves the three of us behind in Ninjago.

"Darn it!" I say, frustrated that Damien got away and that I couldn't follow. The boys could, but I couldn't. Sorry guys, but I have a lot more common sense than they do.

"The Ninja are y/n's only hope now," Sensei said solemnly.

"One question we failed to ask though: _why_ does Damien want y/n? It's obvious it has to specifically be her if he tried to take her six months ago. But why _her_?" Misako points out.

"I don't know," I say. I haven't gotten far enough in my train of thought to wonder that myself.

"There must be something that makes y/n stand out to Damien. What it is is what we need to find out," Sensei definitively says.

"Nya, can you hack into anything online that has her information?" Misako asks me.

"Wouldn't that be an invasion of privacy?" I wonder aloud.

"Yes, but I'm sure y/n will be glad we did when this is all over," Misako answered.

"Fair point," I say. We climb the stairs to the deck and into the bridge. I sit at the computer and start hacking anything with the name y/n l/n on it.

"This'll take me a while to download all of this. I'll tell you when there are results," I say. Oh, I hope I can find something useful.

_Your POV_

You wake up at the sound of the door unlocking. You hurriedly stand up, ready to greet the person, whoever it is. You hope it's Damien because you really wanna punch him in the face.

The door slides open and in comes Damien. "How are you doing, darling?"

"Get me the heck out of here!" you shout.

"Feisty today, aren't we?" Damien jokes. "I'm sorry to inform you that you haven't served your purpose yet, darling."

"And what is that?" you shout. After all these weeks you are so done with Damien Malcom.

"Haven't I told you? It's a surprise! I'd ruin it if I told you now!" Damien says casually.

"Look, I have no idea why you want me! I'm just a girl! I'm not important at all! I don't see why you think I'm important enough to kill for!" you shout.

"Don't belittle yourself. I've been to many realms and met many people, but you're the most important of them all," Damien says.

"Well that's comforting," you say sarcastically. You roll your eyes. It takes all of your willpower to not try to kill Damien right now.

"And it's not just me that finds you important. The Ninja have been quite tenacious in trying to help you. They even were able to capture me for a few hours before I escaped yet again. Though they did manage to make it to this realm. I honestly doubt they'll survive the night though. That's when the monsters come out," Damien says.

You worry about the Ninja. You know they are strong, but you don't want them to die for you. Leaving aside all impulse control, you yell and throw your fist at Damien's face. Before your hand is even close to his face, he catches it in his own and twists his wrist. That motion twists your arm and you are forced into a choke hold by Damien.

"You forget that I've come out of fights with the Ninja unscathed four times now," Damien whispers into your ear. "You're no match against me, darling. I wouldn't try anything else like that." Damien releases his hold on you and you fall to your knees, taking in as much air as you can.

Damien heads to the door. "I look forward to my plans for you, y/n." At that he leaves, locking the door behind him, leaving you in your cell.

You are terrified. Damien put you into a choke hold without breaking a sweat. You keep inhaling large amounts of air until you feel dizzy from the speed of the gas exchange between the oxygen and carbon dioxide. Your blood is now oxygenated, and you never want to be in such a need of oxygen again.

The way Damien broke your attack and put you into that choke hold, terrifying would be an understatement. He is so much stronger and faster than you thought possible. He has been a nightmare since he killed Roy, and that has grown into a severe phobia. You pray/hope the Ninja are close. Damien said they had made it to this realm. You pray/hope they don't die and that they can save you.


	7. The Darkness

_Lloyd's POV_

I wake up at the crack of "dawn." Of course, dawn just meant slightly less dark.

My dad had told me about this realm. It is a land of darkness and evil. Never has it had light or anything good at all, minus the time Sensei came here. And we barely encountered any of the problems.

I sit up in my cot and rub my eyes. I look to the others, who are also starting to wake up.

"Good... morning?" Jay greets us, not sure whether to call this morning or not.

"Zane?" I ask.

"Already on it...I broadened my search, and twenty miles from here is another building," Zane answered.

"Okay. Y/n might be there. Suit up!" I say. Everyone gets ready to go as a grab some supplies I found and stuff them in a bag. Food, map (doesn't have buildings, just topography), flashlights, heavy layers for us, a change of clothes that looks like it was for y/n and some traveling gear for her. After I found the supplies, we leap into the air and summon our dragons.

We arrive at the building fast, and we immediately know this is the one. There are lights shining from the vents in the walls and the occasional person outside. I don't think humans normally hang out outside in this realm.

I signal for the team to land behind some large rocks and hide. Hopefully those rocks aren't going to kill us.

We regroup and observe the building.

"Zane?" I ask.

"There are two guards at every entrance... windows are barricaded...the guards are armed with bostaffs...our best bet is the door in front of us," Zane analyzes.

I look at the door. Two burly men are holding bostaffs and are protecting the small doorway. We can take them out, but I doubt it'll be silent because sometimes we suck at the whole silence part of being a ninja. But luck is on our side, I guess.

The door opened and three more men enter the scene. A little light bulb goes off in my head.

"Guys! Five of us...five of them...all of them in uniform...are ya guys thinking what I'm thinking?" I say.

Kai smiles. "I think you're onto something. Let's do it!"

We quickly explain to the others our plan. Goal: save y/n. Steps to accomplish this goal: don't suck at being a ninja; pose as these five men; find where Damien is keeping y/n; secretly take her back to Ninjago...somehow...we'll figure that out later.

We all sneak over behind the men. We attack at the same time in silence, throwing the men off guard and dealing with them swiftly. We drag the limp bodies to rocks we hid at and take their clothes.

We put their black tactical gear on top of our own uniforms and put their black masks on. We quickly tie their wrists and ankles and gag them so that they won't be found. We leave them there in their white underclothes. We grasp the bostaffs and walk to the door.

"Let's go," I say.

I swing the door open and lead my friends inside. The halls are made of obsidian and other volcanic rocks. There are large steel doors leading to rooms along the hall. Now we need to find y/n.

"Any ideas?" I ask.

Cole reaches into his pockets. He does that a lot when he thinks. This time though, he raised his eyebrows and pulled out a laminated piece of paper. He reads it aloud to us, saying, "'Upstairs: Malcom's quarters, base of operations, etc. Ground: offices, supplies, etc. Downstairs: emergency, prison complex. Remember to memorize."

"I guess you happened to pick the rookie, Cole," Jay determines.

"Well, that was convenient," Kai says. "Kinda like that one moment in Fritz Donogan when he suddenly has a gun when he lost his twenty minutes before."

"We can talk about the convenience of that movie later, but the comics are still better," I argue. "Let's go downstairs and find y/n."

We walk around the complex, looking for a way downstairs. We find some spiral stairs going down and leap down them two or three steps at a time.

When I touch the last step, a machine pops out of the wall. "Stand still for eye scan," it said. I am about to back up, but Jay is right behind me and I can't go up a step. Before Jay can move for me, the machine finishes its scan. The green lights turn red. "Intruder alert; southwest prison entrance," blasts through speakers along the walls in the entire compound.

"Oh _crap_ ," I say as I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. A steel door closes between us and the prison.

" _Crap_ ," I repeat under my breath. We take a defensive stance and prepare for the wave of warriors coming to kill us.

Zane throws up a wall of ice between us and the attackers. "Cole! See if you can break through the door!"

Cole turns and pushes against the door with all of his body, grunting. He throws himself at the door again and again. I bite my lip. "Cole?"

Cole pauses his relentless pushing and pants. "Zane, can you freeze the door? After that, you guys just buy me some time."

Zane nods and shoots ice at the door, completely freezing it. He once again starts to push through it.

The wall of ice starts to crack. It won't be long until they are through. "Zane, once we get through, try to find a computer or something to see where y/n is," I say.

Zane nods. "Just make sure no one kills me while I'm doing it."

"Will do," Kai answers.

The ice wall is a few hits away from shattering. "For y/n!" I say.

"Hear hear!" Jay responds.

 _CRACK!_ The ice shatters and hits the ground. And the warriors come.

I throw a quick look behind my shoulder to check on Cole. The door is badly bent. I'm guessing he needs about two minutes or so. That we can give him.

Zane, Kai, Jay, and I leap into action. We kick, hit, and punch, doing anything to keep them away from Cole. I grab Cole's discarded bostaff and chuck it at an attacker, taking the wind out of him. I twirl my bostaff into the gut of the attackers in my vicinity.

 _CRASH!_ Cole is through the door. The rest of the team jump through the opening. Zane unleashes an even thicker ice wall as I slap the machine that scanned my eyes off the wall and kick it across the room.

Zane goes to a small computer and touches it. "PIXAL?"

I turn to face the threats as Zane and PIXAL decipher the computer and locate y/n. After a minute, the ice is almost decimated.

"Follow me!" Zane shouts.

I turn and run after the nindroid. He motions us to go in front of him. When he is the last in our line of Ninja, he covers the floor behind us with slick ice. I hear and crash and people slipping behind us, but I don't look back. "Turn when I tell you to!" Zane says as he continues to track ice.

•••

_Damien's POV_

I sit on a mat and meditate. I find that meditation helps me focus on my goals. I hear sirens suddenly. I open my eyes and look to the screen showing security camera feeds across the walls. Five men dressed as my own are a running down the prison complex, looking for a cell. The one bringing up the rear is shooting ice from his hand. 

It's the Ninja. They've somehow managed to survive and are trying to rescue y/n. But I'm not about to let that happen.

After a split second on focusing on where I want to go, I open a portal to y/n's cell and go in. 

Y/n shifts in her seat on her cot, intense fear and anger in her eyes. She is too scared to do anything stupid, not after I put her in a choke hold the other day.

"What do you want?" she asks in fear.

I walk to her and pull her to her feet. I grab her arm and half-drag her to the center of the room. "Don't do anything stupid," I advise her. She doesn't have to make this more difficult than it already is.

•••

_Lloyd's POV_

"That door!" Zane shouts, pointing to a steel door on our right. 

"I got this," Cole says, putting a fist in his other hand. Then he breaks his way through.

•••

_Your POV_

You don't know what Damien is doing, but he wraps his arm around you and pulls you close to him. Your heart is beating at a thousand beats per second. You try to break free from his grasp, but his hold is firm. 

Damien opens a portal in front of us before the cell door can fly into us. The door almost lands on the Ninja who are standing in the doorway, but Lloyd sends it flying down the hall.

The five Ninja walk toward you and Damien, and you relax a bit. They have finally found you! But your relief doesn't last long. Damien grabs a knife from his belt and presses it against your bare neck. You tense and hold your breath. You stare at the knife, lip quivering. 

"Not another step," Damien says menacingly to the Ninja. The Ninja stop, and you see the terror in their eyes. They're worried about _you_ , and Damien is in a position where he can kill you _easily_.

You put one hand on each arm of Damien's, trying to push them off of you and run to the Ninja. But Damien only tightens his grip on you, pulling you even closer to him. The knife remains pressed against your throat. You bite your lip to stop it from trembling, and your eyes well up in tears of terror that threaten to spill down your cheeks.

The Ninja shift their bodies to different battle stances. "Let. Her. Go!" Lloyd says angrily.

"I can't! I still need her!" Damien answers.

"For what?" Zane asks. "You've _killed_ to get her. Why do you want her that bad?"

"Now, what's the fun in telling you? And may I correct you? I don't _want_ the darling y/n l/n, I _need_ her the same way I _need_ oxygen," Damien comments.

"Yeah, we don't care all too much about the 'why,' Damien, but we do care that you took her, an innocent girl!" Jay replies.

Damien laughs. "You really think she's _innocent_?!" You scrunch your eyebrows in confusion. What does he mean? How could he think you aren't innocent? You're just a girl trying to live a normal life! You eye the Ninja, sending them the look that you have no idea what is going on. They almost imperceptibly nod and continue to try to negotiate.

"You're one to talk about innocence. You _murdered_ an innocent man when he tried to stop you from taking her!" Kai shouts in anger.

"I think we can agree, one elemental master to another, that you have to take desperate actions in desperate times," Damien explains. You continue to fight against Damien's strength.

"Are times so desperate that you're willing to kill the girl you so desperately need?" Cole asks, calling Damien's bluff.

Damien frowns and releases the pressure from the knife on your throat, throwing the knife on the cot. Your breathing evens slightly. You slightly are at less risk, but terror still is flowing through you like a mighty river. As the knife is disposed, Damien's grip on your chest tightens until it is excruciating. "I'm impressed! You caught my bluff, Master Cole."

"Alright, Damien, let go of y/n and we'll settle this like men!" Jay suggests.

"Very well, Master Jay," Damien responds. In your ear, he whispers, "Stay down and don't do anything stupid, y/n." He twists you around his body and pushes you to the ground. You land on the hard floor with a soft thump. You stay put, Damien having intimidated you plenty.

You pull your h/l h/c out of your face and look up at the scene ahead of you. The Ninja run at Damien, now that you aren't in the danger of losing your life. Damien calmly pulls up counter attacks. You are surprised by how Damien holds up against the five Ninja.

The Ninja slowly spread out in a semi-circle around Damien. They attack him from all sides but Damien deflects their attacks. But it causes a pivotal moment in the battle. Lloyd and Cole end up behind Damien.

Lloyd conveys a message to Jay with his eyes and Cole nods. Cole runs behind Damien and continues to fight whereas Lloyd silently makes his way to you.

When he is next to you he crouches down. "It's alright, y/n, I've got you, it's alright," he says to comfort you. He helps you to your feet and keeps a protective arm around you. He helps you walk toward the doorway, occasionally using his body to shield you from stray attacks.

When the two of you are at the doorway, Damien notices. He pushes Jay off of him and sends him to a portal, causing Jay to hit the ceiling and fall on his face. Damien kicks Kai into a portal, sending him on top of Jay. He elbows Zane in the face and kicks him in the gut. He struts toward you and Lloyd. Lloyd steps in front of you and lights his hands with balls of green energy, ready to defend you. "Stay away from her!"

"You can't stop me," Damien replies sinisterly. He opens a portal next to him, leading behind you. He grabs you and shoves you into a portal, sending you several feet away from him and the Ninja. You're on the ground, lying on your stomach, struggling to get up. Before you can get on your knees, another portal gently drops the steel door to your cell on top of you so as to not hurt you too much but to still keep you pinned to the ground.

"The only reason she isn't fifty miles away right now is because I want her to watch me kill you," Damien told the Ninja. A few tears dash across your cheek. You want to go home so bad. You don't want to ever have to think of Damien again. You don't want anyone else to die for you.

You watch the battle commence. Before anyone can get close to you, Damien throws a portal between you and them and sends them back where they were. It looks like Damien is about to win until Cole runs and tackles Damien to the wall. Before Damien knows what happened, Cole has smashed his head into the wall. It doesn't kill him, but definitely knocks Damien out.

Lloyd runs to you and lifts the door off of you so that you can crawl out from under it. With a clash Lloyd lets it fall back on the hard obsidian floor. He once again helps you to your feet and wraps a protective arm around you.

Zane frowns. "The doorways are full of guards," he reports.

"How are we going to get outta here?" you ask timidly.

Cole smirks. "Who said anything about doors?"

•••

_Lloyd's POV_

I smile, knowing exactly what Cole is doing. "Ready to run?" he asks. Us Ninja nod, and I tighten my reassuring grip around y/n's waist. She looks a little confused, so I decide to explain.

"He's going to smash our way through the walls to get out of here," I explain quietly to y/n. Understanding the idea, she nods and gets ready to run. 

"Three, two, one!" Cole shouts before he smashes the first wall. We run after him. I help y/n keep up. She stumbles and almost falls. She is probably not used to running through an entire building without any breaks. I catch her and share encouraging words. 

Eventually we get to a courtyard void of any life behind our own. Cole touches the ground and sends jagged rocks to cover the hole of our escape. Y/n grabs onto me and leans against me, struggling to catch her breath. I wrap my arms around her and pull her close to me. I run my hand through her gorgeous h/l h/c hair as I whisper to her. "It's alright, y/n. It's alright. We're going to get you out of here, I promise."

"I've got this," Zane says. He shoots ice up, creating a ramp onto the tallest portion of the roof. The ramp is more jagged and less steep than he usually would have done, but he was putting more in foot holds and making it easier for the both physically and emotionally exhausted y/n. I help her across the ice ramp and onto the roof. Once everyone is in the roof, Kai throws two balls of fire at it to melt it. 

We swiftly walk to the edge. I am still holding onto y/n's waist, and I pull her close to me. "Y/n, we're going to jump off of the roof, but I'll summon my elemental dragon, and we won't even be close to the ground. I've got you," I whispered to her.

Fear floods her eyes, nevertheless, y/n nods. I smile. She is being very brave for a girl who has watched her boyfriend be murdered, be kidnapped by her boyfriend's murderer, been both physically and emotionally abused, threatened with a knife, had a steel door dropped on her back, and had to exert her already exhausted body to get this far. Most girls wouldn't be as courageous as her.

I wrap my arms around her waist and she smile at her. I wipe the tears away from her face with my sleeve. I rip the mask I took from a guard earlier and throw it off the roof. "It'll be fine," I assure her. 

I tighten my grip on her waist and she holds onto my chest tightly. I lift her off the ground beneath us and jump with my teammates off of the roof. Y/n screams and buries her face in my chest. Before we could fall more than a yard, we land on my elemental dragon. Realizing we are rising, not falling, y/n stops screaming and looks over my shoulder. Still holding onto me for dear life, y/n looks over my shoulder slowly. 

"It's alright, y/n. We're getting you out of here, " I say with the intent to calm her. Tears well up in her eyes and threaten to streak down her darling face. She is exhausted, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I can see it in her eyes.

" _Thank you_ ," she says earnestly. "Thank you." Once she says that, several tears stream down her cheek. Her cheeks redden in embarrassment, and she buries her face in my chest once more. The cloth where her face is grows moist. Y/n starts to tremble. I let go of my reins, knowing that my dragon will follow the others. I wrap my arms around y/n tightly, giving her the biggest hug. I continue to hug her as we travel across this dark realm.


	8. The Cave

_Lloyd’s POV_

I hold y/n with one arm while lightly touching the reins of my dragon. I have no idea where we are going. Zane is leading the way, and I trust that the nindroid to take us somewhere safe.

Yeah, us Ninja are not smart. We came to this realm and found y/n almost immediately, broke her out, but have no way to get back to Ninjago. We are above the dark clouds, following Zane. We've been soaring through the black sky for fifteen minutes now. Given our dragons’ great speed, we've covered a lot of distance.

Y/n readjusts her hold on me, pushing herself closer to me. I hold her tighter. Her small, slender body was still trembling from both emotion and the cold. I had given her a jacket from the bag of supplies I stole from Damien's facility, but she is still as cold as ice. She is hugging me for both my body heat and because of the intense emotions she is feeling I can only partly understand.

Throughout my life I've been captured a few times, Skales, Pythor, the Overlord, Chen all had captured me before. I at least knew how to protect myself and knew why they wanted me. I also _chose_ this life. I _chose_ to be a cringey, “evil” kid. I _chose_ to help the Ninja defeat the serpentine. I _chose_ to become the Green Ninja, which resulted in becoming the Golden Ninja. I _chose_ to go to Chen’s island, and I _chose_ to try to stop Chen with the help of just Nya and my dad. Y/n, on the other hand, never _chose_ to watch the love of her life be murdered, and never _chose_ to be tossed into this crazy life. I _chose_ my life, but y/n didn't _choose_ hers.

“Down here!” Zane shouts. He dives through the clouds, with Jay, Cole, and Kai following.

Y/n tightens her grip on my chest, making her knuckles go white. “I've got you, it'll be alright,” I say to encourage her. “Three...two...one.” At one I dive after the other Ninja, and y/n holds on as tight as she can, almost too tight.

We aren't too far from the ground. Usually I would've jumped off here, without landing, but I choose to land. When she's sure we aren't flying anymore, y/n pokes her face away from my clothes and looks around. We're just outside a large cave system. Y/n uses her sleeve to wipe stray tears and I slowly help her reach the solid ground. Once our feet are on the ground, my dragon dissipates into nothingness.

Y/n is still clinging to me, so I once again wrap my arm around her thin waist and help her inside the caves. In the entrance, Zane is standing. He leans against the rock wall casually, well, as casually as you can be given the situation. He is looking across the horizon for any threats. We have no idea what could be out there. Damien, monsters, or worse.

“Left, right, right, left, straight,” Zane directs me. “I'm scanning the area for threats, and it's easier out here.”

“Fair enough,” I say. “L, R, R, L, S?”

“Yes,” he confirms. He looks at y/n in concern. “Y/n, we'll protect you from Damien. We won't let him touch you again.”

Y/n manages to produce a small smile and thanks Zane. I pat Zane on the shoulder and lead y/n into the caves, still pulling her slender body close to mine. I take the left turn, the right, the right, the left, and the straight.

The area we're staying in leads to a dead end so that nothing can ambush us. But there is a small opening, big enough for y/n and maybe someone else. It is really deep, and goes on for a mile in darkness. If bad goes to worse, y/n and one other person can slip into the fissure and hide for a while.

I don't know why, but if bad went to worse, I kind of want to be the one to go with y/n. Not that I'm a coward or anything, but I know that y/n would need someone with her then, and I kind of want to be the one to be with her if she is there, trapped in those tight spaces, right next to her.

But that's me being stupid. I am the leader, so I should probably be leading my team as we fight Damien….

I observe the area. Cole, the only person besides me to bring supplies, is setting up some portable cots. So that's what I was forgetting! Kai is in the center of the room, placing rocks and wood in place. When he's satisfied, he touches the top of the teepee and ignites the fire, bringing light and warmth to the cave. Jay is taking the cots that Cole has set up and placing them in areas of the room, probably in some sort of pattern. Jay can be really OCD about some things.

The cave itself is made of smooth, grey stone. The ceiling is about a foot and a half taller than me. There's enough room for the cots, fire, and some space surrounding the fire.

I look at y/n. She is examining the place she'll be living at temporarily. She is exhausted, her face tear stained. She still is holding onto me and is starting to lean onto me for support. Her e/c eyes show just how tired she is. I help her walk to to a cot and help her sit on it. I sit down next to her, and she leans her entire upper body against mine.

•••

_Your POV_

You're so tired. You lean against Lloyd, struggling to keep your eyes open. You're 5000% done with life right now. You never asked for all of this crap, but, lo and behold, you are in a huge mess right now.

“Alright, I'm making food,” Cole says.

“No!” Jay shouts.

“What? Why not?” Cole asks.

“I'm sorry, Cole, but you aren't the best when it comes to cooking,” Kai says.

“What? C’mon, help me out Lloyd!” Cole says.

“Sorry, Cole, but I vote that Zane cooks,” Lloyd answers. You feel the movements his body makes as he speaks.

“I heard my name?” Zane says as he walks in.

“Food!” Jay shouts.

Getting the gist of the memo, Zane grabs a bag and pulls stuff out to make food. You don't know what he's making, but it smells good.

After a few minutes, Zane hands everyone a small bowl of food. You let it rest on your lap. You love food, but you feel pretty dead right now.

Lloyd nudges you, nonverbally telling you to eat. You know he's right; you haven't eaten for a while and you don't want to be hungry later. And the food looks good.

You pick up the chopsticks and prepare to use them to eat. Your movements are sluggish. You can barely stay awake to chew each bite, despite how good it tastes. But you eat all of it because you know you'll feel bad if you don't. You take a lot longer to eat than the Ninja do, but you get no judgement for that.

You push the bowl onto the cot and continue to lean on Lloyd. The Ninja are talking about Damien and what they should do. You half listen.

“There's not any major structures in the near vicinity,“ Zane informs.

“Not any major structures, but there might be something to small for you to detect,” Cole points out.

“Either way, this is far away from where Damien is, not near any other buildings, and looks like the typical landscape. This is the best place we can be until we find a way out of here,“ Kai argues.

“Yeah, how are we supposed to get out of this realm?” Jay asks. “I don't think we can make a ninja chain again and all grab onto Damien when he's half way through a portal.”

“We'll figure out something. But we need to do something about Damien soon,” Lloyd brings up. “We need to deal with him instead of just placing a bandaid over the problem.”

“Yes, we'll have to do that soon, before this gets to out of hand,“ Zane agrees.

“Well, what are we going to do then? If we stop Damien we might not be able to get back to Ninjago,” Jay adds.

“We'll have to work on both things at once, I guess,” Cole suggests.

“We will once we can. But I say we all stay here until you've recovered a bit more,y/n” Lloyd says, bringing me into the conversation.

“Hear hear,” Jay agrees.

“I'd feel safer if you did that,” you reply.

“Well, our goal is to keep you safe, so we'll help you however we can,” Cole says.

You smile softly and produce a small, “Thanks.”

“No problem. We're gonna stop Damien and get you back home,” Kai responds.

You smile again. You can barely keep your eyes open. It's surprisingly comfortable, resting against Lloyd's shoulder. You slowly drift off to sleep, with your last thoughts being your gratitude for the Ninja.

•••

_Lloyd's POV_

“Okay, we stay with y/n until she's recovered,” I say definitively. The rest of the team agrees.

“Speaking of y/n,” Kai starts with a smile, “look at her right now.”

I look at her to find that she's drifted into a quiet slumber. Her head is rested against my shoulder, and her arms are loosely wrapped around my waist. She looks so peaceful, like everything is perfectly good right now.

I smile and place an arm under her back and my other arm under her knees and pull her into my arms. I stand up, keeping her head resting against my chest. Kai and Jay grab the bedding for that cot and set it up for y/n. After the sheets and pillow are placed, I set y/n on the cot so that she is lying comfortably on her back and her head is resting on the pillow. I pull her shoes off and set them neatly on the floor, near the foot of her bed. I lay a soft fleece blanket on her and make sure she's completely covered by it. Just to be careful, I add another comforter.

I step back from my work to ensure her comfort. I smile softly. I turn to the Ninja. “It's getting late, let's get to bed. I'll take the first watch.”

They go to the cots they've chosen and lie down, falling asleep almost instantly. I step out of our section of the cave and sit with my back against the wall of the tunnel, pondering over what we need to do.

We need to let y/n recover first. I don't want to make her walk all the way to somewhere because we think we can get to Ninjago that way to have it just be a false alarm when she's in this state. She's in shock right now. We need to let her calm down to do anything.

Once she's recovered, maybe we could have some of us go do something while at least one of us is here. I don't think we should let y/n be her by herself, just in case. And if she wants to go with us and it's not too dangerous, I don't know about the others, but I'm not stopping her.

I sigh. We'll figure it out in the morning.


	9. The Watch

_Your POV_

You slowly begin to wake up. You're very comfortable where you are, so you really don't want to move. The blankets are warm and the pillow is soft  You sigh and open your eyes reluctantly.

The fire’s embers are glowing a soft orange. The cave is much darker than it was before, only being lit by the embers and a small lantern hanging from the ceiling. All but one of the cots are occupied. Kai, Lloyd, Jay, and Zane are asleep, but you can tell they're still restless. They toss and turn unexpectedly, and they flinch at sudden noises. You wonder if they normally do that, or if it's because of the situation at hand. You figure Cole is awake somewhere, having his turn to take watch.

You roll over and sigh. You try to fall back asleep, but you're less exhausted now, so you just feel stressed. You're heart is pounding and you aren't breathing evenly. Your hands and feet are twitching. You're scared by the endless possibilities of what could happen. You could die, the Ninja could die, Damien could kidnap you again, you could be stuck in this dreary realm all of your life, among other possibilities. You believe that there are an infinite amount of possibilities and that the ones that become reality are the makings of choices of yourself and others, and you're scared someone will make the wrong choice.

After a few moments of trying in vain to sleep, you quietly sit up. You stand up and swiftly put your shoes on. You wrap one of the blankets around you and go toward the exit of the cave. Yes, it is dangerous, but you need a change of scenery to distract you.

You silently stroll to the exit of the cave. Near the exit, Cole is leaning against the wall and examining the horizon. You walk quietly behind him and look to see what he sees. It's not much, just a dark and dreary night in this dark and dreary realm.

Not knowing what to do, you decide to start a conversation. “Hi?” you say, making it sound more like a question than a statement.

Cole spins around in surprise. When he sees you, he visibly relaxes. “Oh, it's just you! You gave me a heart attack, y/n!”

“Sorry,” you say sincerely. You didn't mean to scare him. “I can't sleep. Thought I'd join you. Are you cool with that?”

“Yeah! Of course!” Cole says. He sits down and gestures for you to do the same. You sit cross-legged next to Cole with your blanket covering you. Your back is leaning against the cold wall of the cave.

Cole glances at the horizon. After seeing nothing, he turns to you. “You good?” Realizing what he said, he shook his head. “That's a stupid question.”

You smile softly. “Um, it's not. But I don't really have an answer.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don't really know what to think right now. I mean, I'm in some other realm, I was kidnapped by some evil guy, and said evil guy keeps claiming that I'm the key to his plan or whatever, and he killed Roy six months ago,” you explain. “It's a lot of really bad things to take in.”

“I get that. I've had to deal with a crap ton of crazy in my life.”

You giggle a tiny bit. “I bet.”

“We're gonna protect you though, y/n. We won't let Damien hurt you again.”

“I hope so.” You sigh. You came here to escape the feeling of stress, not feel it even more.

“Hey, uh, we were talking about what we should do, and I don't know when you fell asleep, so I'll give you the rundown,” Cole says. “So, we're all going to be with you here until you recover a bit more. After that, I guess we'll start working on how to get out of here and how to stop Damien. If you  want to stay here, y/n, we'll have at least one of us here with you.“

“Um, okay, thanks,” you say, grateful that the Ninja are planning the entirety of their plan around you.

“It's nothing, y/n,” Cole says, even though you are certain this is more of a something than a nothing. He looks you straight in the eye. His eyes show a deep sense of despair. You wonder why the black ninja is depressed. “I'm sorry.” The words are quiet, barely audible.

You know what he's talking about. Roy. Damien. This realm. The abduction. All of it. “Look, I'm a ninja; I'm supposed to protect people. But I let Damien kill Roy and I let him get you. I-I’m just saying, I, I'm sorry about it all,” Cole continues.

Your face reddens slightly. You didn't mean to make the Ninja so full of guilt. “It wasn't your fault, Cole. You can't win all of the battles.”

“Since when were you rattling off proverbs like a sensei?” Cole asks in mock curiosity.

You lightly elbow him. “Shut up!”

“Of course, Master Shifu.” You elbow Cole again, slightly harder. He laughs as you do so. “We might wanna think about teaching you how to hit a guy, y'know, just in case.”

“Roy once tried, but it didn't work out very well, so good luck,” you warn Cole.

“Oh, challenge accepted!“ Cole says.

You yawn. “Maybe later,” you say as you may your head in Cole's lap. As you lay there, he strokes your h/l h/c gently and consistently.

“We'll see,” Cole says playfully. He continues to stroke your hair. You close your eyes and feel nothing except for Cole's muscular thighs and his hand striking your hair as you fall asleep on the rocky floor of the cave.

•••

_Cole's POV_

I sit here for the longest time, stroking y/n's luscious h/c locks as her breathing patterns change and she falls into a deep slumber. Even after she's asleep, I sit there, stroking her hair and calming both of us.

When it's time to switch jobs, I pick up y/n bride style and carry her back to her cot. I take her shoes off and put the blankets back on.

“G'night,” I whisper to her sleeping body.

I walk to the right and shake and sleeping body of Jay. “Get up, Jay!”

Jay shoots up. “I'm up!” He quickly jumps up and goes to his position.

I go to my own cot and lay there for the longest time before I fell asleep, pondering the experience I have just had.


	10. Chapter 10

_Jay's POV_

I wake up bright and early...well, not so bright, but definitely early. It's slightly less dark than it was before. The fire is out, only a pile of ashes now.

Everyone else is starting to get up. I yawn as I I trip over a rock. Predictable. It's normal for me; the ground just wanted to give me a hug. I get up off the ground and brush my clothes off. I watch as Kai starts a fire for Zane to use to cook breakfast.

Everyone is up but y/n. I don't blame her. I personally think I'd be doing the same thing if I was in her shoes. She was exhausted last night; it is probably really good for to be resting right now.

The team gathers around the fire. "Okay, we need to come up with a plan ASAP," Lloyd says. Everyone agrees. I usually am good at pulling a _Star Wars: The Clone Wars_ Anakin Skywalker and improvise my plans as I go, but this is bigger than usual. We need a solid plan to (a) get back to Ninjago; (b) keep y/n safe; (c) answer some questions about the scenario; and (d) stop Damien.

"We need to find a way outta here," I say. "If we can get back to Ninjago, we can get help from Nya, Sensei, Misako, and our other allies to protect y/n. We can find a way to stop Damien with their help."

"I've calculated the possibilities of defeating Damien if we had help from another elemental master, and the odds of success go up with three others," Zane informs.

"Okay, we wanna play on the home turf. Any idea on how to get back? " Kai says.

"Your dad lived here for a while, right Lloyd? How did him and Sensei get back to Ninjago?" Cole asks.

"Dad told me about a volcano-like mountain with a huge portal in its crater instead of lava, ash, and smoke. That's how they got back to Ninjago," Lloyd explains.

"I can look for that," Zane declares.

"Okay, so we're looking for the portal volcano," Cole concludes. "One more thing: I don't think we should just take y/n with us everywhere. We should alternate between who stays with her."

"Yeah!" I say. It's a great idea. "The rest of you go on today. I'll stay with y/n."

"You sure?" Kai asks.

"Yeah, bro, I am."

•••

_Your POV_

You begin to stir. The cot is comfortable, and eventually you had gotten sleep last night after you had a conversation with Cole. He must've brought you back when it was his turn to surrender to the will of a tired body. You lay awake on the cot, not wanting to open your eyes. Life was a lot simpler when you slept, and you need some simplicity right now. You roll over onto your side, pulling the blanket closer to you. You sigh, keeping your eyes shut. _Just five more minutes, please!_

After a few moments, you give up on those five minutes and open your eyes. It's the same dark cave from earlier, but with a little more light from a fire in the center of the circle of cots. 

You sit up on the cot, wrapping the cozy blanket around your slender body, shivering a little bit. You look around to see only one of the five Ninja is there.

"Hey, uh, y/n! Um, you good?" Jay asks while he sits on his own cot, which is next to yours.

"Um, considering the situation, I think I'm doing pretty good. Thanks for asking," you answer. "Where's everyone else?"

"Uh, they're tryna find away off this realm right now. But we didn't want to wake you up and make you go to the ends of the earth right now, so I stayed behind to, y'know, keep you safe," Jay explained.

You now and shudder from the cold. "Okay. Any idea how long they'll be?"

"If they aren't here by dark, er, _night_ , then we got a problem. But they'll probably get back here just fine, maybe even with useful info," Jay answers.

You nod to yourself, still shivering. Jay looks at you in concern. He stands up and grabs the blue blanket on his cot. He walks over and drapes it over your shoulders, covering you f/c blanket and you in warmth. "You looked cold."

"Well, I kinda am."

Jay takes a seat next to you on your cot and wraps his arm around your waist, pulling you close to him. You feel his warm body heat and lean against it, taking it all in.

"Thanks," you tell him with a smile.

"Hey, I'm here to protect you. Might not be fighting the powers that be that threw you in this mess, though I will do that later, but I still have to help you feel comfortable, sort any emotions, whatever," Jay says.

You smile and chuckle a bit. "Well, thank you, Jay."

Jay smiles back. "No problem. Hungry?"

"Oh please, I need food. I have no idea how much I ate recently. I lost track of time. I have no idea how long it's been since, _y'know_ , Damien took me," you say quickly.

"In Ninjago, like, four hours, maybe? I have no idea about this realm ," Jay says as he hands you some breakfast.

"Only four hours! Damien said time was different, but dang!" you say in surprise.

"Yeah, at least no one is overly worried yet. It hasn't been long enough for them to worry yet," Jay says. You raise an eyebrow. "What?! If there's anything I learned from Chen's Tournament of Elements is that the most powerful power is the power of positivity! It beats love and unity and all that fun stuff."

You laugh, surprised to hear it. You had forgotten what your laugh sounds like. Jay is smiling like a little kid on Christmas Day. That makes you laugh even more. 

You spend the rest of the day talking to Jay. He talks _a lot_ , but it helps distract you from _*cough cough*_ Damien. Besides, he's really funny and gives you time to speak too. The rest of the Ninja return about an hour before night. Not anything new, but you feel safer knowing about their safety and having them in the same room as you. That night, you fall asleep in Jay's lap.


	11. The Fight

_Your POV_

It continues for four days. You wake up to only one of the Ninja there, and the others return before "dark," and turns out they've found nothing. It is getting tiring.

Physically, you're fine. You aren't so exhausted that you can't keep your eyes open anymore. Emotionally, meh? You still feel a lot of anxiety and your sure that you should probably be taking medications after all of _this_ , but it's... better? You haven't cried for a few days though, that's good. But you still are almost always shaking and you always have a deep fear of... most everything involved in _this_. It's like post tramautic stress disorder or something. You're often curled up in a ball, reliving everything that's happened since the day Roy brought you to the park. If not, you're muscles are tense and your knuckles are white.

Today is a little different though.

Today you slowly wake up. It takes half an hour for you to actually get out of bed. Rather than being an emotional mess, you are also dead inside. It's _totally_ a great combo, emotional mess and dead on the inside. Note the sarcasm.

"You seem...different?" someone asks from behind you. You turn around to see Kai in his flaming red suit.

"I guess," you say.

Kai sits down next to you and wraps an arm around you. You tense a little, not expecting it. Usually this doesn't happen until later in conversation you have with whichever Ninja when they feel bad and try to comfort you. You lean your head against Kai's chest and sigh. You kinda hate your life right now.

"I'm just kinda dead right now," you say as you shrug.

Kai nods understandingly and tightens his hold on you. For the first time you aren't shivering. This realm always seems to be cold, no matter how many blankets cover you, you're always cold. But for once you're warm. You figure it's a Master of Fire thing.

"I'm just, I don't know, anxious? About all this?" you say.

"Hey, we're gonna figure this out. We'll bring Damien down and get you back home and make sure no one _ever_ hurts you again," Kai says.

You sigh. You never have felt so _powerless_ in your life. You can't _do_ anything. All you think you can do is sit here and pray/hope that the Ninja can figure something out.

"But I feel like it's a little more than anxiety," Kai says.

"How did you know?" you ask, marvelling at the fact that he could read you so well.

"Well, I have Nya, my little sis. When it was just us, I learned how she acted when she was stressed, and from what I've seen a lot of girls act in similar ways," he explains.

"Are you saying women act the same?"

"No? You're all very different, and I respect that," Kai says, confused by your question and worried that he offended you.

You laugh. "I'm messing with ya. But, yes, I think it's more than anxiety."

"Then what is it?"

You shrug. "I dunno how to explain it. Ever since Damien killed Roy, I've felt vulnerable and paranoid. But since he came back and kidnapped me, it's been worse. I feel... _powerless_."

Kai nods. "I get that. I first became a ninja because Lord Garmadon kidnapped Nya. I felt so powerless. Sensei Wu came and knocked some sense into me many many times, but that feeling of worry and helplessness always came back to haunt me until I got her back and stopped Garmadon and the skeletons...for a while, that is."

You sit in silence with him, leaning against his warm chest and being calmed by his steady, consistent breathing and heart rate, when Kai finally speaks up.

"Ya wanna know what helped?"

You nod slowly, not moving from your position.

"Well, with my fear and anxiety and anger, one thing helped me the most, once I actually tried. I was training to be a Ninja so I could get the Golden Weapons, save Nya, stop Garmadon, so on, so forth. Well, training actually helped my emotions a lot."

You laugh. "You've gotta be kidding me! You're saying I should learn how to fight? Kai, I've tried before. I'm no good at it!" you say. A month after Roy died, you tried to take self defense classes, but you never had the heart to punch someone.

Now it's Kai's turn to laugh. "This isn't a few months ago. It's a different situation. Now knowing how to fight could save your life."

Kai stands up and holds both of this hands up. "Punch my hand."

"What? No!" you shout. You aren't sure if this is a good idea.

"Just trust me, y/n. Punch me. As hard as you can."

Reluctantly, you stand up. You look at Kai's hand and hold your arm up and put your hand into a fist. You swing wildly at his hand, only for him to stop it easily.

"See? Didn't work!"

"Y/n, this is gonna sound weird since I guess I'm the one with a hot temper, but you need patience. C'mon, I'll help you."

You figure you have nothing to lose at this point, and let Kai lead you to an area for him to teach you how to fight.

_Kai's POV_

I watch y/n as she takes a defensive stance. She's a fast learner, but she is scared to go hard on me. I mean, I have been a ninja for a while, so she can't hurt me that easily, but I can see that this would be difficult for her.

"Alright, I'm gonna come at you. Ready?" I say.

"I guess," y/n says, unsure of herself.

I run at her, but I go easy. This is her first day fighting like this, so I don't want to make it too hard on her. I throw a fist toward her face, and she deflects it fairly easily. For her first time, it was really good. We can improve later.

I send a kick toward her stomach, and she steps back instinctively. It's not really fighting, but, hey, it's better than getting hit. She had pretty good reflexes already.

I run at her again, but I slide on the ground to get behind her. It throws y/n off guard long enough for me to get a hit on the back of her legs. Her knees buckle and she falls to the ground.

I'm worried that I went to far, but she quickly gets up. I smile at her, trying to say sorry. This time, she comes at me, and I let her. Offense takes more confidence than defense, and if she has the confidence to do it, I'm not gonna stop her immediately.

She throws a punch at my shoulder, and I block it. I twist my arm, causing y/n to turn her back to me. It's a super vulnerable position that no doubt she's learned. I've seen Damien put her into this position. It's dangerous. It's where you get choke holds and knives to your throat. Of course, I'm not doing either of those. That's a little... _extreme_. But I want her to know how to get out of that if she ever needs to again.

As a substitute to pressing a knife against her throat, it's almost like I'm hugging y/n from behind. I actually kinda like doing it. But it ends quickly.

Y/n kicks my feet out from under me and I go down laughing. "You did it!"

"Oh my gosh are you okay?" Y/n asks in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I would rather fight you than Damien any day still, but you learn fast. We just needa let your confidence grow."

Y/n smiles. I haven't seen her this happy, well, ever. "Thanks for that," she says quietly as she helps me up.

"No problem! And I'll help you out even more. Deal?"

"Deal."


	12. The Nindroid

_Your_ _POV_

You wake up, realizing you've lost track of how long it's been since you were in that tiny square cell. You have no idea how long you were in that cell either, and your notebook was still there; there was not enough time for you to get it when the Ninja broke you out. You shudder, wondering if you'd ever make it home.

For the first time, you wake up before the Ninja leave. As you grew more comfortable, you woke up earlier, but there was always only one Ninja. They woke up at the crack of dawn or however you'd phrase it in this realm, ate, and left to find Damien or a way back to Ninjago or whatever.

You sit up and rub your eyes. You pull you knees close to you as you sit on the cot. Zane sees you're awake first and hands you some breakfast with a smile. "Good morning, y/n."

"Good morning," you say quietly. You still are amazed that you've been _living_ with your _heroes_ , the _Ninja_ , for the past week(s), and still blush and whatnot when you converse with them.

"Hey, y/n. We're gonna check this one place out. Zane's gonna stay with you, 'kay. Seeya later t'night," Jay says.

You give him and the other leaving Ninja a small smile. "Seeya," you say. The Ninja run out of the cave and off to who knows where. You turn to Zane and smile. "How are you?"

"Decent. You?" Zane responds.

You shrug. "I don't really know. I think I'm doing better though. I've had less panic attacks in the last few days." You shudder, thinking about the panic and anxiety attacks you've had since the Ninja rescued you. You've had psychological disorders like PTSD, anxiety, and depression since _Roy_ happened.

"That's okay," Zane says. "You don't have to be fine right now. You probably shouldn't be fine. You've gone through a lot in a short amount of time."

You've had people try to help you with your emotional problems before, but no one seems to get the emotions at stake. You have all of these feelings, and a lot of it is irrational, and you know that, but you can't escape them. It feels like you're drowning, but you can see everyone around you breathing. You feel like no one gets it; everyone thinks it's "just in your head." Or they tell you "it'll be okay." How do they know it will work out in the end? It might always be this bad. You might never escape these feelings of anxiety and self-hate. It gets so tiring to hear people say that, so when someone doesn't say that and says it's _okay_ to feel what you feel, it throws you off.

Zane gives you a wan smile. "Your brain is an organ, just like your heart and lungs. You can have mental problems just like you can have heart and lung problems. Treat it and you'll be okay."

"You have asthma, people recognize it and give you an inhaler. You have heart problems, it's recognized and you don't have to do as much cardiovascular work. You have psychological disorders, and everyone thinks it's fake. They think you're trying to get attention. They expect you to do the same as everyone else," you say.

Zane shrugs. "I don't know why. What I do know is that you can do whatever anyone wants you to do. No one realizes how much effort it takes for you to live your life. But if they knew, they'd be scared. _They_ can barely do it, but you have a valid excuse to not, yet you do it anyway."

You smile I little bit. _Finally_ , someone understood you! You never thought that would happen. "Hey, can you play music?"

"I have access to that ability."

"O-O-H Child. Five Stairsteps. Please?"

Zane nods and plays one of your comfort songs. You slowly start to drown out your sorrows as you listen to the music.

 _A/N_  
_Sorry for how late this is. This is dedicated to everyone with anxiety, depression, PTSD, and every other psychological disorder. Y'all know I'm struggling right now, and 1 in 4 adults struggle with it. It's a big deal. The song is my comfort song, and y'all should listen to it. And it's the song_ _Star-Lord_ _dances to when he challenges Ronan to a dance off in Guardians of the Galaxy, so that's a plus too._  
_I'll try to publish on time this week. Love y'all, have a nice day. Please vote and comment._  
_💓 Michelle_


	13. The Fire

_Your POV_

You take a long drink of water. You've been training with Kai for the last few hours.

"You're getting really good, y/n," Kai says. "Just as good as I was when I first became a ninja and we fought skeletons from the Underworld."

You blush a little. You don't think you're that good. "Except you could do Spinjitzu."

"Actually, we kinda learned that on the fly," Kai explains. "We had just found the Golden Scythe, and skeletons were fighting us, so we fought them and BOOM we learned Spinjitzu."

"You have got to be lying," you say in unbelief.

"I'm not! Seriously, ask Jay. He figured it out first," Kai says. "Sensei had told us that when we found the key we'd unlock Spinjitzu or whatever, and we did!"

You smile. "Okay then, I guess I'll learn that someday."

"If you want. I know plenty of amazing fighters who don't know it. Most of the elemental masters don't."

"Yeah, but Spinjitzu is pretty awesome!"

"Guess I can't argue with that." Kai smiled too. When he did, your heart skipped a beat. _"The heck?"_ you ask yourself in your head. _"Why is my heart racing? He just smiled at_ _me...oh_ _my gosh he smiled at me!"_ You don't know why, but him smiling at you makes you happy. And it isn't a smile to comfort you. It's a genuine smile he's wearing because he enjoys talking to you.

You give him a wide smile, but you're still a little confused. Why does this feel so good to you? "You're serious about how good I am?"

"Yeah, I am! You're a fast learner!" Kai answers. "I mean, you probably won't be defeating Damien alone anytime soon, but, hey, I can't either!"

You feel your face reddening. Soon it'll be as red as Kai himself.

 _"The heck, y/n?"_ you say to yourself. You don't understand why you're acting like this. In a split second decision, you decide to cover up your feelings and go with the flow. "Nope. You're lying. I know I suck at this."

"C'mon, y/n, you're lying to yourself!" Kai says. "You are really good at this, and if worse goes to worst, you can defend yourself. And I'll help you keep improving."

There you go, blushing again. You try to cover it up as you sip some cold water, but it doesn't work as planned. You feel your face heating up even more. You're confused as to what emotion you are feeling. Is it embarrassment? Anxiety? What is it?

"Okay, then. Can we train later? I need a break," you say.

"Yeah, anything, y/n," Kai says, his grim still plastered on his face.

You smile back as you crash onto your cot, lying on your stomach, exhausted. You've been training with Kai for hours now with no break. You push a strand of moist hair out of your face and run a hand through your messy, snarly, greasy, sweaty hair. You hadn't been able to take a shower since before Damien kidnapped you. You wrinkle your nose, thinking about how bad your h/l h/c hair is, as well as the rest of your body.

"We need to get back to Ninjago so I can take a shower," you complain.

"Oh boy, I need one too. I can't have awesome hair without a shower," Kai agrees.

You laugh. Kai's typical spikes in his hair were slowly starting to droop down. "Yeah, we don't want your hair looking like wilting flowers, do we?"

Kai laughs. "Yeah, that's one reason to get back home."

You sigh. "We got a while before that can happen."

"Yeah, but it's not the end yet. We'll stop whatever plan Damien has." Kai sits on the cot next to you. He rests a hand in your back and starts to slowly rub it. He pulls a hand through your hair. "It's not that bad, y/n."

You smile a little as the two of you sit there, occasionally talking about greasy hair and whatever other subject came up. Lucky for you, you had your face buried in your pillow, so you could blush without Kai noticing.

All was peaceful, until the other Ninja came.

"Y/n! Kai!" you hear Jay shout before they're in the cave with you and Kai. When they get in, they're all out of breath. "We found something!" Jay says in between huge gasps for air.

"Found what?" Kai asks.

"A way to get out of here. Maybe," Cole answers.

"Where?" you ask.

"There's this huge room of crystals, and there's this prophecy engraven on a marble stone in there," Lloyd describes.

"What does the prophecy say?" you ask.

"Well, there's _part_ of a prophecy," Zane says. "The part we can see says _'When_ _seven worthy are present, truth will be revealed.'_ So we need all of us there to figure it out."

"So we don't know what the heck it is," Kai says.

"It's the best thing we've found so far," Jay argues.

"Don't you think it's weird, that it's asking for seven people, the exact number in this group?" you ask. "And it sounds like this is the only place in this entire realm that isn't dark and evil, what with the translucent crystals and white stone. Plus, the six of you are the Ninja! How much more worthy can you get? And I guess maybe I'm worthy?"

"Your logic is sound, y/n," Zane confirms. "It would not be the first time the six of us are part of a prophecy."

"Yeah, those things keep on trying to throw us into chaotic messes," Jay says.

"And worthy can mean different things, but considering the situation, I think worthy means that you're a good person," Cole says. "Y/n, you might not save the world very often, but you're a good person. Roy was a good person, and good people usually are attracted to other good people. Besides, Damien has only ever hurt the best of people. You're in that group of good people."

You blush slightly. "Okay then. Let's go see what this crystal thingy is."


	14. The Earth

_Your POV_

You are riding on Cole's elemental dragon this time. You cling onto his torso, and bury your face in his clothes. You don't like looking down...is this the fear of heights? Or is it just anxiety?

You've noticed by now that Cole is the most muscular of the Ninja. It makes sense, he is the Master of Earth and has super strength. What else would you expect? You feel it right now as you hold onto him for not so dear life.

"Almost there, y/n," Cole informs you.

"Okay," you answer, your voice muffled by his clothes.

You feel the dragon racing to the ground, diving like a peregine falcon. Suddenly it stops.

"It's okay to look now, y/n," Cole says. You slowly look up and notice you're shaking. Cole picks you up bridal style and carries you off the dragon and down to the ground. His earth dragon dissipates along with the other dragons. Cole sets you on your feet and helps you steady yourself.

"You good?" he asks.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," you say, partially lying. No, you are not fine, but you're doing pretty good compared to what it normally has been since Damien kidnapped you and took you to this cursed realm. So it works to say you're fine, right?

"No, that was a stupid question!" Cole says. "Sorry, your life has been like heck. Death, kidnap, being stuck in this crappy realm, the hopelessness. How can I ask you off you're okay when I know 'bout that?"

"No, Cole, it's fine, don't be sorry! At least you're trying to help! Not many people even do that!" you say. Honestly, not many people have helped you since Roy died. The Ninja are the only ones.

"Are you saying back home you didn't get help?" Cole asks.

You shrug. "I had a therapist for a while, but it was too expensive to keep going to therapy. So I stopped."

"And what about family and friends?"

"My dad left when I was a baby, and my mom died of cancer a few years later. My aunt raised me, but we never saw eye to eye. I kinda avoid her now. And I don't really have friends. I mostly annoy people," you explain.

"So you've been dealing with this alone for months?"

You shrug. "Yeah. I felt like an attention seeker every time I asked for help, and I didn't like that. I was just annoying people. So I stopped asking. And no one would help unless I asked, so I don't get help."

"Y/n, you shouldn't go through this alone," Cole says with concern.

"Yeah, I know, but no one's gonna help unless I ask and I'm too scared to ask," you say, brushing off the pain.

"That's not true! You've got us! You've got Kai and Jay and Zane and Lloyd and, and me!" Cole says. "We'll help you through this crap!"

You blush a little, now that Cole's telling you that he cares about you. "Alright, thanks," you say as you try to cover up your red face. _Gosh dang it, what is going on today! First with Kai, now with Cole! Stop blushing!_ you mentally yell at yourself. You try to cover your face with your your l/h / you wish you had long hair to cover your bright red face.

"No problem!" Cole says.

"Are you guys good?" Jay asks as he walks over. "We've been waiting for you two."

"Sorry, Jay. I just had to make sure _someone_ knew that they shouldn't be afraid to get help," Cole says emphasizing 'someone.' You blush even more.

"Y/n, we're all here for you and want to help!" Jay says.

"So I'm told," you say, feeling your face getting even more red. "Can you stop telling me that now? I swear my face will make Kai look like the watered down pink ninja."

"Actually, Zane's the pink ninja," Cole says.

"What?!" you ask.

Jay laughs. "Yeah, back before the Great Devourer, when Lloyd was a kid, Sensei told him to screw up our things and blame someone else so we would learn not to jump to conclusions. He did a bunch of things, but by far the best was when he washed Kai's and Zane's clothes together to make Zane's pink!"

You laugh. "This _really_ happened?"

"Yeah! And Zane had to fight the Serpentine while wearing pink!" Cole says as he laughs.

"Tell ya what, we've got to randomly make fun of Zane for that later today," you suggest.

"Oh, yes, consider it done!" Jay says. "Before then, let's check out the crystal thingy."

You walk over to rejoin the rest of the Ninja. "What took so long?" Zane asks.

"Nothing much, Pinkie," Cole answers.

"Am I having de ja vu?" Zane asks and you laugh. "It's been _years_ , and you decide to bring that up now?"

"Yes, you cold Pink Lemonade," Jay says.

"I heard you are great at doing laundry, Lloyd," you say.

"The heck? Why are you bringing up the time I turned Zane's clothes pink?" Lloyd asks in confusion.

"It is very important information I learned about just barely!" you argue.

"No! I was the cringiest kid back then!" Lloyd says.

"Which proves my point!" you say with a smile.

"C'mon, Pinkie, let's go see these crystals," Kai says with a smile.

"Hey! Only I call him Pinkie! You come up with your own!" Cole says.

"I call Pink Lemonade!" Jay replies.

"I got Pink Panther!" you say.

"Fine, I'll take Pinkie Pie," Lloyd says.

"Like the hyperactive horse from _My Little Pony_?" you say teasingly.

"Yes! I know about her because there was a weird _MLP_ crossover in my favorite comics around the time I made your clothes pink, Zane. I only chose it because it has the word pink in it!" Lloyd says.

"Alright, I got Pink Floyd," Kai says.

"Why?!" Zane says in confusion.

"Because we need to show our love for you," Cole says.

You and the Ninja walk into the little cave system. It's nothing compared to the size of the caves you were in for weeks. At the first eight you are almost blinded by the light. You've been in a dark cave in a dark world for so long that your eyes need some time to readjust.

You're covering your eyes with your hands, trying to block out every ray of light. You stop dead in your tracks. You feel someone wrap an arm around you. You instinctively try to break free of the person's hold. It's not a conscious thing you're doing. Your mind is too busy having flashbacks to the times Damien and his soldiers have grabbed you out of nowhere when they first attempted to kidnap you, when they succeeded to kidnap you, when you tried to fight Damien, and when the Ninja came to rescue you. You still haven't opened your eyes.

"Y/n, it's me, Cole, it's alright," is whispered in your ear. You immediately begin to relax, remembering that you're not anywhere near Damien and that you're safe with the Ninja. Your breathing slowed down and you calmed down.

"Sorry, Cole. It's just that when someone suddenly grabs me and pulls me close and I have no way of knowing who, I suddenly am back in Damien's arms, being forced out of my home and taken against my will," you say.

"Don't be sorry, y/n. I'm sorry that I triggered you," Cole apologizes. "I'll let you know who when I hug you. I just figured since you can't really see, that you'll need a guide through these caves."

You blush again. "How considerate?" you say. "Thank you!" Cole slowly leads you until your eyes can readjust. You had almost forgotten what light was like!

Then you're there. The crystal room.


	15. The Ice

_Your POV_

The crystal room is shining. It is like the crystals themselves are making light. But that couldn't be possible, could it? The floor is like glass. You can see nothing but light thousands of feet below you. The crystal is several feet thick though, so you feel safe walking on it. There are massive crystals jutting out of the walls and there are small crystals the size of raindrops hanging from stringy thread-like crystals hanging from th ceiling almost half a foot above your head. You're surprised by the beauty of the room in this dark, dark realm.

"Wow," you say in awe.

"I second that wow," Kai says.

"Where is all the light coming from, Pink Panther?" you ask Zane.

"Okay, are we really sticking with these nicknames that were relevant years ago?" Zane asks.

"Oh, heck yeah we are, Pinkie!" Cole shouts.

Zane sighs. "To answer your question, y/n, PIXAL says the light is coming from some sort of unknown power source. Of course, that is the scientific explanation. Considering the realm we're in and my life experiences though, I would not be surprised if magic is involved."

"So, IDK or magic. Doesn't seem too crazy," you say. "I've lived in Ninjago City for a _long_ time. The Serpentine and the Great Devourer, Garmadon, Soto, the Overlord, the Overlord 2.0, Chen, I was there for all of that. Add Damien, and I'm honestly not surprised by magic and superpowers anymore."

"Now that you list the attacks there, I'm starting to realize how bad it must be to live in Ninjago City. Like, how is it still the capital of Ninjago? How is anyone still alive and well physically and mentally? How are there still skyscrapers? How is the economy not screwed?" Jay asks.

"I have no frickin' clue," you answer.

"Can we stay focused on the task at hand?" Kai asks.

"Yep!" You shut up and observe the crystal room even more. You found the marble tablet the Ninja had described. There were ancient runes etched into the stone.

"' _When six worthy are present, truth will be revealed_ , '" Zane reads over your shoulder.

"What language is it written in?" you ask.

"It's the ancient language of our ancestors," Zane explains.

"Seems legit," you reply.

"We have seven of us here. Is something supposed to happen?" Jay says.

You examine the stone with Zane, looking for any clues. Suddenly, you notice some new runes appearing. "Magic! New runes! What do they say, Pink Panther?"

"' _You_ _stand in the Elemental Cavern. Here, the Masters and Apprentices shall be made known_ ,'" Zane reads.

Once Zane finishes the last syllable of the sentence, the light dims and several human-size crystals started to come up from under the ground.

"Are we, like, supposed to go to those?" you ask.

"Only one way to find out," says Cole as he walks to one of the massive crystals. You and the rest of the Ninja claim your own crystals. You watch as Kai's, Zane's, Lloyd's, Jay's, and Cole's crystals started glowing a gold color, as well as...yours?

"Wait, what?" you ask in confusion. "The heck?"

"' _Masters and Apprentices shall be made known'_...is it talking about elemental master's?" Kai says.

"I guess...," Jay says. "Can you be smart for us, Pink Lemonade?"

Zane sighs again. "The tablet called the room the Elemental Cavern. It would make sense that it would refer to Elemental Masters, but the term Elemental Apprentice is not in any of my databases."

"So, does this glowy stuff mean I'm a Master or Apprentice?" you ask.

"I suppose so," Zane confirms.

"What?! That's crazy! I'm just a normal girl, how can I be that?" you say in shock.

"Who are your parents? They might've been Masters," Cole says.

"I don't know. My aunt never told me about them, not even their names," you answer.

"And thus the plot thickens," Jay says.

"But what does Apprentice mean?" Lloyd says. "You might be a Master, but you also might be an Apprentice, y/n."

"I don't know...if anyone knows, it's Misako...or Damien," Zane says.

"Oh my gosh, this is crazy! This can't be happening, can it?" you say.

"Y/n, it's happening, but none of us have a clue on what it means," Zane says.

"I swear my life got a lot more complicated multiple times in the last month," you say, still in shock over the newfound discovery.

"Hear hear," Jay says.

The golden crystals started to disappear into the ground, and it started to get dark. Your pupils quickly adjust; they're plenty used to the dark now.

"We better go back guys," Kai says.

Everyone treads back to the outside. Zane pulls you aside. "I know this is crazy, but on a scale of one to ten, one being absolutely amazing and ten being absolutely terrible, how are you?" Zane asks.

You shrug. "Somewhere between 7.5 and 8.5."

Zane wraps an arm around you. "It's alright, we'll figure this out. And if you turn out to be an Elemental Master, crazy, but also cool."

"Fair point," you say. "What does it feel like to use your powers?"

"It's this amazing feeling. I have a sudden burst of confidence yet I don't feel _powerful._ It's somehow...humbling even though the immense power flowing through my body and being ejected from my finger," Zane describes.

"It sounds amazing. I wouldn't mind that," you say.

"Maybe you have it. Time will tell," Zane says.

"Yeah. What am I gonna do when we get back to Ninjago? Will I suddenly have some sorta superpower?" you say.

"I don't know, y/n. I don't know," Zane says. "I'll give you a ride because for now you do not have an elemental dragon."

You chuckle a little bit until you realize you a blushing _again_. _C'mon, y/n! Pull yourself together! Stop blushing every time one of the Ninja is nice to you! It's not like it's a surprise! They_ _frickin'_ _rescued you!_

You hide your face until the coloring evens out. "Alright, Pink Panther. Let's go."


	16. The Lightning (+ 2018 Christmas Special)

_Your POV_

Zane helps you down from the dragon and you and the Ninja go back into the dark and dreary cave. Kai lights a fire in the center fireplace and everyone sits around it to converse about the discovery y'all made in the Crystal Cavern.

"So, I mean it's interesting I guess, but does this help us stop Damien or get back to Ninjago?" Kai asks.

"I dunno. It might be why Damien kidnapped you though, y/n," Lloyd says.

"What do you mean?" you ask.

"Well, maybe Damien knew that you are a Master or Apprentice or whatever and wants to use because of it," Cole suggests.

"Possibly once a Master or Apprentice is in contact with the Cavern, it gives them power or the key to unlocking something else Damien wants," Zane adds.

"It sounds legit," Jay agrees. "I mean, if I was an evil jerk, even though I already am an Elemental Master, I'd want some powerful people in my side. And I guess I'd use any means to get people to work for me."

"Well, I'm glad you aren't an evil jerk like Damien, Jay," you say. I

"Haha, yeah, me too," Jay says a little nervously. You don't know why he's slightly nervous, but he is.

You sigh and look at Zane. "How long have you been in this realm? In this realm's time, of course."

"We've been here for two months, y/n," Zane answers.

"So, I know this is weird, but if we pretend it's the same timeline as Ninjago, what would the date be?" you ask.

"December 25th," Zane answers with a smile.

"It's Christmas?! Well, kinda. I mean, it feels like months for us, so it kinda is Christmas for the six of us, but also kinda not," you say excitedly.

"It's Christmas!" Jay shouts. "Zane, why didn't you tell us?!"

"Because it isn't really Christmas yet in Ninj-"

"Technicalities, Zane! Technicalities!" Jay shouts with a smile on his face.

"It doesn't really matter, Jay. It's not like there's a tree or anything here," Kai says.

"But that isn't the true meaning of Christmas!" you argue.

"Y/n's right! Christmas isn't about the tree or presents!" Jay shouts.

"Before you go all Linus from _Charlie Brown Christmas_ on us, Jay, remember that we're all within five feet of you and we don't want to tell Damien, along with everything else, that we're here," Cole says.

"Fine," Jay says at a much softer tone. "Christmas isn't about Santa Claus and presents and trees and mistletoe! It's about love and friends and family and love!"

"Hear hear!" you say.

"If you think about it, Christmas is a weird holiday," Lloyd says. Think about it. It's about a Jewish baby born two thousand years ago that was famous for the local shepherds and kings of distant lands even though he was born in a stable during tax collection. And that's a big deal because people worship him, so we celebrate his birth by giving each other presents and getting presents from a fake fat guy in a red suit, eating unhealthy amounts of sugar, singing about a reindeer with a red nose, and the only time of year it is acceptable to drink eggnog."

"Wow," you say in surprise. "I had not thought of any of that before." I

"I don't know if that's a Deep Thought of the Day™, a meme, or what," Jay says, saying 'T-M' at the end of 'Day.'

"All of the above," Kai answers.

"Everything Lloyd said was accurate," Zane adds.

"Christmas is a weird holiday. Are other winter holidays just as weird?" Cole asks.

"The Jews celebrate Hanukkah, a holiday celebrating the religious freedom Judah won from Syria and rededicating the temple in Jerusalem thousands of years ago. The menora makes sense considering menoras were used in Jewish temples and there's a story behind the menora during the dedication of the temple. Dradels are fun for children. Kwanzaa is a mix of African celebrations and Christmas, so it contains the weirdness of Christmas and cool African traditions," Zane explains.

"Did you just recite the Wikipedia page verbatim, Pink Panther?" you ask.

"No! I pulled that together from valid sources!" Zane retorts.

"So Kwanzaa is only weird because of the Christmas elements, and Hanukkah isn't weird," Cole says. "Why is Christmas so weird?"

"It's been commercialized," Kai says.

"It was originally a Christian holy day, but atheists thought it was cool so now it's a weird mashup of Christian beliefs and whatever atheists did with Santa Claus and whatnot," you say.

"Both true," Lloyd says, referring to both yours and Kai's answers.

Jay turns to you. "You seem to like Christmas a lot. Even if no one will, I'ma celebrate it because this is an excuse to celebrate it two months early. You wanna come?"

"Um, sure," you say as you blush. _Stop it with the blushing, y/n! He just wants to celebrate Christmas!_

"Okay, y'all can come with y/n and I if you want. Only emergency services should work on Christmas!"

"Jay, we are kinda an emergency service," Cole says.

"We aren't cops, firemen, paramedics, animal control, mountain rescue, hospital doctors, government officers, FBI, CIA, or in the military! So we _aren't_ an emergency service! We are above them!" Jay says.

Jay drags you away from the other Ninja. "So, Jay, how do you plan on celebrating Christmas in this heckhole?" you ask.

"I haven't thought that far yet, y/n. Gimme a moment. To fill that time, let's talk. How have you normally celebrated Christmas?" Jay says.

"Well, last Christmas I mostly just did the normal things with Roy, mistletoe and all. It wasn't until now that I've thought about today. I haven't really been able to think about _any_ holiday. It's a little...much for me, since, y'know...," you say.

Jay touched your hand in a comforting way. "I'm so sorry, y/n. But Jay will make this a wonderful Christmas in this not so wonderful realm!"

"Oh no, referring to oneself in the third person. That's never a good sign. Are we sure you aren't an evil jerk after all, Gollum?" you say.

"The world may never-crap! I don't have  Tootsie Roll Pop to turn this into a commercial!"

You laugh at his lame joke while you blush. You cover it up as much as you can with your h/l hair.

You sit with Jay until dusk, doing whatever to celebrate Christmas. You sing songs, quote Christmas movies, make plans for gifts for the other Ninja when Christmas rolls along in Ninjago, and try to sing the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo" aka Carol of the Bells because why not? You haven't had this much fun in a long time.


	17. The Energy

* * *

_Your_ _POV_

"We're not gonna get anything done here! We're sitting ducks," you hear Jay say quietly off to the distance as you wake up. You shift your body under the blanket to better distribute warmth, but you stay on the cot. You don't want to deal with life at the moment, and getting up means dealing with life. Thus, you stay still and try to go back to sleep, but it doesn't work. You can't sleep now that you're awake. But you still don't want to deal with life, so you stay in the comfort of the bed.

You don't mean to listen to what the Ninja are conversing about, it just happens.

"I know, Jay, but what can we do? We're stuck in this realm!" Cole says.

"And we aren't exactly sitting ducks...yet," Kai says. "Damien hasn't found us yet and has no idea where we are."

"For now! He's probably looking for us, for y/n, and he'll find her eventually," Jay says.

"And when he does, we'll stop him from hurting her," Zane says.

"But while we're sitting here bored, he might be doing something, anything, that'll work in his favor! We have no way to prepare for him! Look, I know I'm usually the positive one, and I do believe in the Power of Positive Thinking, but we need to _do_ something!" Jay says.

You hear Lloyd sigh. "He's right," Lloyd says. "We've done what? We rescued y/n, which was big, and I guess we found the crystal thingy, but other than that, not much."

"What do you suggest we do?" Zane asks.

"Well, we need the same things we've needed since we found y/n," Kai says. "Find a way back to Ninjago, stop Damien, and figure out why he wanted y/n so much that he is ready to kill."

"No way to get back home, no idea how to stop Damien, and no clue why he took y/n," Cole states. "And we've been here a long time."

"Usually we can figure this out faster," Kai says. He sighs. "We don't have enough time to not know anything."

"Yeah, and the only one that has any idea what he's doing is..." Jay let's his sentence trail off as you and the Ninja know who  he's thinking about. Damien Malcom.

 _Jay's right_ , you tell yourself mentally. _Damien_ _seems_ _to_ _know_ _what_ _he's_ _doing._ _He'll_ _probably_ _find_ _this_ _place_ _soon,_ _and_ _then_ _what_ _will_ _we_ _do_ _?_

Lloyd sighs. "I wish the others were here. We could use a samarai like Nya to fight Damien. My mom could figure out the crystal place and a way back to Ninjago. And Sensei could help us know what to do, because, I'll be honest, I have no idea what to do."

You sigh worriedly. _They_ _have_ _no_ _clue_ _what_ _they're_ _doing...how_ _am_ _I_ _ever_ _gonna_ _get_ _home?_

"Guys, we'll figure something out. We _always_ do. Look at what we've done! We've fought skeletons, Garmadon, Serpentine, the Great Devourer, the Stone Army, the Overlord, nindroids, the Overlord again, a bunch of Elemental Masters, and Chen as a freaking Anacondrai! We can add Damien to that list!" Cole says.

"We better figure something out fast—anyone have any ideas?" says Lloyd.

Kai sighs. "Not really."

"Well, we can't just sit here," Jay says. "I say we go to Damien!"

"Jay! We can barely fight Damien with all of us together, so we'd have to bring y/n with us, and that's too dangerous!" Cole says.

"Cole's right, Jay," Kai says. "It's too dangerous."

"Will one of you back me up?" Jay asks Lloyd and Zane.

"I've ran the suggestion through my system, and, despite the incredibly low odds that it works, it is the best option we have," Zane says.

There is a pause in the conversation, and you imagine everyone is looking to Lloyd for his vote. Lloyd sighs. "I know this is a crazy idea, it's dangerous, and all of us and y/n are at risk, but I think Jay is right." He paused for a second and continues. "Jay's right. We've barely done anything since we broke y/n out. And it's only a matter of time before Damien finds us. And I'd rather bring the fight to him than for him to bring the fight to us." Another pause. "Of course, we'll have to ask y/n if, uh, she's willing to come with us."

You hold your breath for a hot second. _Once_ _he_ _knows_ _I'm_ _awake,_ _Lloyd_ _is_ _gonna_ _ask_ _me_ _if_ _we_ _can_ _go_ _to_ _Damien. I_ _don't_ _**want**_ _to_ _go_ _there,_ _but_ _Jay's right._ _We_ _can't_ _just_ _stay_ _here_ _and_ _we_ _need_ _to_ _stop_ _Damien_ _and_ _get_ _back_ _to_ _Ninjago_. You sigh, knowing Lloyd will inevitably ask a question you can't answer. _We_ _can't_ _stay_ _in_ _this_ _cave!_ _Damien_ _probably_ _has_ _dozens_ _of_ _people_ _looking_ _for_ _me_ _right_ _now_ _and_ _once_ _he_ _finds_ _me_ _he'll_ _come_ _to_ _kill_ _the_ _Ninja_ _and_ _take_ _me!_ _But_ _going_ _to_ _him_ _might_ _just_ _be_ _Christmas_ _for_ _him!_ _Ugh!_ _Why_ _is_ _this_ _so_ _complicated!_

You hear someone sigh. "Fine, we'll go with Jay's plan," Cole says.

"But we have to make sure everyone is ready. I've been helping y/n learn how to defend herself—she's gettin' really good by the way—and we all need to train her and ourselves if we want to go to Damien," Kai says.

"Naturally," Zane says.

"We'll go when we all feel semi-ready. I don't think any of us can feel totally ready—we aren't _that_ stupid," Lloyd says.

"Yep, and Kai's right, we'll all have to help y/n train until she's ready to go out," Jay says. "She's a quick learner though, and she'll be learning from some of the best."

"Did Jay just call us the best?" Cole asks.

"What? No, I didn't!" Jay argues.

"Jay, I have a recording of you saying it," Zane says.

"Oh, gosh darn it, nindroid!" Jay says. You smile a little. Honestly, sometimes you look at the Ninja and see _children_. You wonder how Sensei Wu can put up with them ever.

"I, uh, I'll talk to y/n 'bout all this when she wakes up," Lloyd says.

"You'll tell her I said we were the best?" Jay asks. You here something hit something else.

"No, he'll tell her about Damien!" Kai says in annoyance.

"I'm just messing with y'guys. Yeesh. You didn't have to elbow me in the ribs, Zane," Jay responds.

"I apologise, but you were being annoying," Zane says.

"I'm annoying everyday, Zane. Deal with it," Jay replies.

"I swear, you are, like, five Jay!" Cole says.

"Nuh uh uh! Mentally, I am _four_ , Cole, not five!" Jay says.

"Whatever," Cole answers.

You're trying real hard to not laugh right now. _I swear,_ _their_ _mental_ _age_ _is, like, two!_

"How about you guys go train, and I'll stay here and wait for y/n to wake up," Lloyd says.

You hear a chorus of "Okay," "Seeya," "Cool," and "Chill" as you hear footsteps of several leaving the room.

Unsure of what to do, you stay in your current position. You wipe your palms with the blanket. _Lloyd_ **_is_** _gonna_ _ask_ _me_ _that_ _question,_ _and_ _I_ _don't_ _know_ _what_ _to_ _do! I_ ** _can't_** _be_ _here,_ _but_ _I_ _also_ **_can't_** _be_ _there!_ _Oh_ _my gosh,_ _what_ _do_ _I say?_ _And_ _how_ _do_ _I_ _tell_ _Lloyd?_ _Oh_ _my gosh,_ _I'm_ _shaking...Lloyd_ _is_ _gonna_ _find_ _out_ _I'm_ _awake...and_ _I'll_ _have_ _to_ _answer_ _him...what_ _the heck, I_ ** _can't_** _...oh_ _my gosh,_ _what_ _do_ _I do?_

You continue to ruminate (overthink) for what feels like an eternity, but you know it's probably fifteen minutes at the most. You just _don't_ _know_ _what_ _to_ _do_.

_Lloyd's_ _POV_

I am waiting for y/n to wake up so I can ask her opinion, because I honestly have no idea what else to do. In our attempt to find a way out, all we've found is riddles and crystals. The only way we can figure something out for once is through Damien Malcom, but that's dangerous, especially for y/n. But we can't just stay in this cave; Jay is right to worry. Sooner or later we'll run into Damien again.

It's been ten minutes since the guys left. I think they are training in another cave. This cave system is _huge_ , they could easily find somewhere big enough for the four of them and their egos while they train. I turn to y/n to see if she's waking up. Normally, she would've been up by now, but if anyone, f/n l/n deserves a late morning every once and a while. Nevertheless, I'm a little worried.

I don't know why I'm worried, but, then again, I've always had a little part of me worry about y/n ever since Damien first entered her life. That's probably normal, but I feel it always, even at times like now. Y/n is as safe as she could possibly be given the circumstances, but still, I worry.

When I see y/n curled up in ball under her covers, I notice she is shaking slightly. _Crap!_ _Something's_ _happening!_ _But_ _what?_ _Is_ _she_ _having_ _a nightmare?_ _Anxiety_ _attack?_ _Is_ _she_ _just_ _cold_ _and_ _shivering?_

I walk closer to her for and when I right in front of it, I pause. Her back is to me, so I can't see her facial expressions. Slowly, I put my hand reassuringly on her arm. "Y/n, hey, are you okay?" I ask quietly.

Y/n's body stiffens underneath my hand. "Are you awake?" I softly inquire.

"Yeah," says a tired, quiet y/n. "Wassup?"

"I just noticed that you were shaking, so I'm checking up with you," I explain softly.

"I, uh, I'm just cold, Lloyd, it's nothing," she says with a flat tone. I laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Y/n, I love ya but you're a terrible liar," I say. Y/n's face falls, and I see anxiety in her eyes. "Seriously, what's wrong? I can help."

Y/n laughs nervously. "No, I don't think you can, Lloyd," she says.

"We'll never know if I can help if I don't know what's wrong," I say. "And I _really_ wanna help, y/n."

_Your_ _POV_

You want to talk to Lloyd because of how much worry you can see in his eyes. Lloyd is the type of person who shows all of his emotion in his eyes, but you have never seen this much worry _ever_. You want to help him see how little of a thing it is that you are worrying about. Unfortunately, the very thing giving you anxiety is talking to Lloyd about what to do, so....

"I, I would tell you, but, but, I just can't," you tell him.

"What happened, y/n? I don't want to push you into telling me, but I'm really worried," Lloyd says.

You bite your lip and run your fingers through your hair. _How_ _is_ _it_ _possible_ _that_ _he_ _can_ _look_ _so_ _worried_ _?_ you ask yourself. _I_ _swear_ _,_ _every_ _second_ _he_ _grows_ _ten_ _times_ _more_ _anxious_ _!_ "I want to tell ya, Lloyd, I just can't."

"Please, y/n," he says in more worry than you thought possible, " _please_."

You bite your lip again. _Gosh_ _,_ _darn_ _you_ _, y/n!_ You curse yourself for doing this, but you can't stand to see Lloyd so worried. "Fine. I'll say it."

"Okay, y/n. I won't tell anyone, I promise," Lloyd says.

You nod. "So, uh, um, y'know what you and the guys were talking about before they left? Yeah, I was awake."

Lloyd looks slightly shocked. "You were awake? So y'know what Jay suggested...."

"Yeah."

"Um, so, uh, what do you think?"

"I don't know!" you snap. You sigh. "Sorry, I dunno. Jay is right, we can't just stay here, and Damien might be the only way we can go. But that doesn't mean I _want_ to, that I'm not _scared_!"

Lloyd sighs. "I understand. The guys and I, we've hardly done anything for you, y/n, and Jay is the only ones with an idea. The best bad idea we've had for a while. But if it doesn't work.... There's huge risks for all of us, especially you, y/n." He grabs your hand. "You definitely aren't the only one that is scared, y/n. I am too, heck, we _all_ are." Sigh. "I'm not 'bout to push you one way or another. Just, you're the deciding factor. Should we bring the fight to Damien?"

There is silence for a few moments. Then you speak up. "You're scared too?" you ask quietly.

Lloyd laughs. " _Of course_ I am! I am _terrified_ by the idea of Damien getting his hands on you, of him hurting you! And I'm scared that I'm making the wrong choice!"

"Do you _think_ it's the right choice?" you ask.

"I, uh, yeah," Lloyd stutters. "I think we need to do this, but still...."

You look at Lloyd. "Let's do it. Mind you, I have the right to complain the entire time and be scared to death."

Lloyd smiles. "Of course. We wouldn't take that away. We already complain and are scared the entire time, y/n."


	18. The Realization

_Your POV_

Your days are comprised of training with the Ninja, getting ready to face Damien Malcom and hopefully not get captured again. When fighting one on one, you are an effective fighter. Fighting two others with no back up is harder, but you can do it. Three takes a lot of effort, but is possible. Four or five though, that's too much on your own. But with help, you can fight four people, hopefully more, you just can't test that with only five people with you.

At the moment, Kai is sparring with you. He had told the others to start working on plans while the two of you sparred. You and Kai are circling each other, arms out in battle positions. You are defensive while Kai is offensive. Cole had taught you prior to this round that defense was the most effective stance when the enemy knows you are fighting them, with some exception. Kai comes running at you, send his foot toward your chest. You block and in turn put you leg behind Kai. You push him over and trip him with your leg. Kai stumbles, but quickly regains himself. You continue to dodge and block for sometime, never really making an offensive move.

"I know Cole told you to go defensive," Kai says, "but he also said that at some point you need to stop blocking and start attacking."

In response you pull and roundhouse kick and hit Kai square in the jaw. Kai's head jerks back in pain. "Sorry!" you say, not wanting to hurt him.

Kai pulls his head back to face you. It's obvious that his face is going to sting for a few hours. "It's fine, y/n, but don't apologise next time you hit someone," Kai says jokingly.

You smirk. "Fair enough." You send your fist flying toward Kai's uninjured cheek, but Kai blocks you. He counter attacks with a punch, and you dodge and grab his arm. Using the force from his punch, you send him flying behind you. You quickly turn around so he can't do anything while your back is turned. Kai quickly jumps up.

"There you go! Remember, use your elbows! There's more force involved when you elbow someone versus when you punch or hit someone," Kai says helpfully. You immediately stick your elbow in his ribs.

"Thanks for the tip!" you say with a smirk.

"Should not have said that!" Kai says as he backs away from your elbow. You and Kai are five feet apart, and you run forward and jump, ramming your knees into his gut. He falls over, which you did not expect. You fall with him, landing on top of him. You are seated on his hip, with your legs straddling him.

Right then, both of you stop. You did not expect to send Kai toppling to the ground, and you did not expect to fall on top of him. But now that you have, neither of you seem to be able to act. Your heart is racing, and you swear you can feel Kai's heart beat going at three hundred beats per minute. Your chest is beginning to hurt from the throbbing of your heart.

Kai is the first to do anything. He slowly grabs your hands in the most gentle way he can. Despite the gentility in his grasp, it is firm. His hands and his whole body are extremely warm, but it feels good. "You did _amazing_ , y/n," Kai says, a small amount of shock in his voice, but his voice was still full of love. "Damien better watch out."

You chuckle nervously, not sure what to do or say. "I, uh, um, yeah, I guess I did well." You notice Kai's face is starting to bruise where you kicked it. You brake Kai's grasp on your right hand and place your hand over his cheek. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

Kai laughs. "I've had worse injuries from a sparring session. Or, one time, when we were using the Golden Weapons for the first time, I set the training area on fire." Kai laughs. "Sensei was _pissed_! He told us not to use them, and we did, and I started a fire!"

You laugh. "You really did that?"

"Oh yeah!" Kai smiles at you. "But that's beside the point, y/n. That, that was fantastic, y/n. _You_ _are_ _fantastic_!"

Your heart skips a beat. You are blushing like crazy. _Oh my gosh, y/n, stop blushing! But, oh my gosh, Kai is saying all this stuff about me!_  

•••

_Kai's POV_

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this to happen. Y/n, who, alongside Nya and Skylar, is one of the best women I've ever met, has first, defeated me in combat, and no I did not go easy. I didn't use Spinjitzu, but doing that would be unfair. Second, she is sitting on my waist, one hand entwined with mine, and the other cupping my bruised cheek. Third, my heart is racing and I can feel my temperature rising. Y/n is blushing so much her face blends in with my clothes. My heart is twisted in a knot. But I feel _happy_.

"You, you really think so?" she asks.

"I don't think so, y/n," I say. "I know so."

"How can you know? You're wrong."

"No, y/n. Anything negative you say about yourself is wrong," I say with a smile. "You are one of the best people I've ever met, and I've met some of the best," I say, referencing the Ninja. Seriously though, y/n might be the best person I've ever met. She probably is.

Everything seems to stop in this moment. At least, until Jay stops this.

"Kai! Can we talk?" Jay shouts, not quite in the room yet. Y/n quickly gets up, and all Jay sees is her helping me up.

I sigh. "Sure thing, Jay."

Yo _ur POV_

It's been a while since you were in that fateful sparring session with Kai, and you didn't know what to do. When you and Kai were together it was awkward to be together now. You know you should just pretend it didn't happen, but you _aren't_ , and you aren't so sure you want to. Neither apparently does Kai.

You are alone, roaming the caves. You do that a lot nowadays, when you need to escape the hot mess called the Ninja. But you never go too far; you don't want to get lost.

You just need a break after, y'know, _everything_ that has happened since Damien showed up in your apartment.

Unfortunately, your me time is up.

"Y/n! You over here?" Jay shouts, his voice echoing off the walls, resonating in the entire cave system.

You sigh and answer. "Yeah Jay?"

You hear Jay's footsteps as he turns the corner. "There you are!" He smiles like a two year old with a new puppy. "Come! I need ta show you something!"

Jay grabs your hand and drags you off in a new direction. You laugh. "Fine, Jay. Let's go!"

Jay takes you down several loops and turns. After a while, you ask, "Jay, uh, you _do_ know where you're going?"

"Yeah, I do," Jay says proudly. "Look, just because I've done a lot of stupid things doesn't mean this is stupid, y/n."

"I wasn't saying it was, Jay! I just don't want to get lost!" You smile. "Besides, how can this be stupid if it's with you?" you say as you blush slightly. _Oh gosh, not again!_

"Aw, thanks! But we gotta admit I've done some stupid things."

"Congratulations, you exist. We all do stupid crap," you say.

"Yeah, whatever," Jay says. Suddenly he smiles. "There it is! Look!"

You turn to see a small body of water, but it was not like the damp, dripping water so prevalent in these caves. No, it was more like a tiny pond, way down here. Stalagmites and stalactites jutted out of the ceiling and floor, sparkling from certain minerals. Water dripped down into the pond, the sound rather soothing. Consistent and full.

"Wow, this is, wow!" you breathe. "I never thought I'd find _beauty_ in this realm."

"Neither did I," Jay says with a smile plastered to his face. "I mean, don't you think it's creepy, the crystal room? I mean, it's not evil, so that's nice, but it's a little creepy to find something like that here."

You shrug. "It was so bright, I couldn't tell you what it looked like!" you joke. You sit down next to Jay on the shore. "I don't think I trust this enough to be too close."

"Y/n, you're literally a centimeter away from the water!" Jay says.

"Actually, it's two and a quarter centimeters," you say.

"How can you measure that accurately without a ruler?"

"Hey, I'm just saying numbers!"

Jay laughs. "Check this out!" He dips a hand in the icy water until his wrists are submerged. With a flick of his wrist, lightning shoots out into the water.

You jump back a little and Jay stops. "I thought water and electricity was a bad combo!" you say.

"You'll be fine, y/n, just don't dive in. But I don't think you'd do that anyway, yeesh, it's cold!" Jay says. You relax a little. You trust Jay enough to stay. Jay restarts the lightning and you watch the pond in awe. The way the lightning travels through the water is beautiful. The water glows with its energy and the surface cackles with electricity. You are shocked by how phenomenal it looks.

"Wow, that is _beautiful_ , Jay," you say.

"Really?"

"Oh, heck yeah it is!" you say. "I haven't seen something like this in a long time!"

"Well, you've been living _here_ of all places for months, y/n!" Jay says. "This entire realm is just a lot of darkness, blackness, evil, and cold!"

"Yep, it is," you say, shivering just a little at Jay's words. You move closer to Jay for warmth. "Thanks for everything, Jay. Rescuing me, making me laugh, showing me this, heck, celebrating fake Christmas with me."

Jay laughs. "Everyone's faces when we said we were celebrating Christmas!"

Now you laugh too. "Well, I wanna celebrate Christmas if we're gonna be stuck _here_ of all places!"

"Hear hear!" Jay smirks as he glances at the pond. "I can do more."

This piques your interest. "Do it!"

Jay already has his right hand in the water, and he's about to put his left hand in too when you both realize something: you never stopped holding hands. You are blushing really hard, and so is Jay. Neither of you let go, but neither of you know what to do. _First with Kai, now with Jay?_ you think in exasperation.

"I, er, uh, um, I'm sorry," Jay says.

"No, it's fine!" you say. You're heart is pumping, and you grip Jay's hand tighter. Jay's hold on you is soft and sweet. He is rubbing small circles with his thumb on the back of your hand. Once again, you are caught in a situation that is unexpected, but you want, but don't know how to function in.

•••

_Jay's POV_

I didn't realize I have been holding y/n's hand this whole time. This is _not_ what I intended. _Oh well, I better try to pull it off somehow_ , I tell myself. I begin gently rubbing her hand as softly as I can. My heart is racing, and I probably look like the American flag my face is blushing so much. 

I laugh. "How did we end up like this?"

Y/n cocks her head to the side, which I think looks pretty cute. "I dunno, Jay, but I don't think I'm complaining." Somehow, my heart rate starts going even faster. 

I smile "Neither am I." Y/n shivers a little bit, so I move closer to her so she can share some of my body heat. In response, y/n leans a little on me, and I smile. This feels a little terrifying and plenty awkward. But it feels _good_.

•••

_Your POV_

_Dang, this day has been_ _ **crazy**_ , you think, remembering your experiences sparring with Kai and holding hands with Jay at the pond. You don't know what to think. You kind of want more, but you can't really ask them for that. 

You're reading a book Lloyd had found in the facility that he had raised for the supplies. It was about dragons, their riders, and angsty nobles. The Ninja are off training, you believe so. You are sitting cross-legged on your cot, reading as the main character gets in a knife fight with an angsty, greedy noble. Zane suddenly walks in and you lower the book. "Yes?"

"The others are off doing who knows what and I just need to not be in a large group for a bit," Zane says nonchalantly. 

You shrug. "I feel ya."

Zane sits down. "That book any good?"

"I'm not very far in, but it's not bad, but a little slow to begin," you say, giving the honest truth.

Zane shrugs. "Maybe I'll read it someday."

"I'll tell you if it's any good when I'm done," you say. You see Zane's face, full of sadness. You place your bookmark and shut the book. "Enough about this book, are you okay, Zane?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just tired!" _Well, that's a lie!_ But you don't know how to say that you know there's a problem.

"Can nindroids even get tired?"

"Yeah, I can, at least." Zane smiles, nostalgia creeping across his face."You know, for a long time, I didn't know I was a nindroid. I thought I was a normal human. Those were, uh... _simpler_ times."

You nod in thought. "Yeah, I bet. Ever since you figured that one out, all of this crazy stuff has happened that involved high tech and evil nindroids and you, uh, you-"

"Dieing?"

"Y-yeah, sorry." You take in a deep breath. You don't know since you don't have much experience, but you figure you shouldn't talk about death with someone who has _died_. They probably don't want to be reminded of it.

Zane, registering your concern about this topic, shrugs. "I don't mind talking about my death, really. It happened, and I hope it doesn't happen again, but I rebuilt myself, and I may as well move on with my life."

You sigh. Sure, you don't think Zane is being entirely honest about his feelings, but there is truth in his statement, and if he doesn't want to share his feelings, he shouldn't have to. "Alright then, Zane." You sigh, not knowing how to say this. "I'm not tryna pry, Zane, but, I, uh, I don't think you're just tired. I think there's something else going on." You smile lightly. "I've already ranted to you. Multiple times. You can rant to me, but only if you want to."

Zane smiles wanly at you. "Thanks for the offer, y/n, but..."

"But what?"

He sighs. "I dunno. I haven't told _anyone_ about this, ever, other than PIXAL."

You raise your hands in surrender. "That's fine! You don't have to tell me! But if you want to ever, I'm here for you, Zane!" You hope he's gonna be alright, but you don't wanna make him talk about things he doesn't want to talk about.

•••

_Zane's POV_

I dunno what I'm doing. No clue. I'm at a crossroads, and I don't know what choice to make.

_Zane, your anxiety levels are raising. Why is that?"_ PIXAL asks. I _, uh, I wanna tell y/n the_ _ **thing**_ _. I don't know why I do, but I really do. I don't know if I should though_ , I think/tell PIXAL.

_"Well, Zane, if you want to, I think you should,"_ PIXAL starts. _"Y/n is incredibly kind. She'll listen. And she won't tell the others if you ask her not to."_

I sigh. _I want to, but what if we're wrong? What if she-_

_"Zane! Don't ask "what if." You'll come up with enough reasons to not tell her if you do. I didn't know until you put my neural drive in your processer! You need to tell someone, and if you aren't sure about the Ninja, tell y/n!"_ PIXAL says.

I sigh. _Okay, but if this goes wrong, I'm blaming you!_

_"Deal."_

I bring my focus on y/n. She's sitting cross-legged on her cot, her blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a book in her lap. Strands of her h/l h/c hair are strewn across her face, which is full of concern. Concern for me.

_"Go on, Zane!"_ PIXAL encourages.

"Alright, I'll tell you, y/n. Gosh, how do I say this? Um, I, uh, I don't feel right.cockn cocks her head to the side in confusion. "Could you expand on that?" she asks compassionately.

"Yeah, um, for a long time, I didn't know I was a nindroid. When I found out I obviously felt different about myself. I dunno, I _feel_ similarly to a human, I have _emotions_ like a human, but not quite. And I'm treated like a _human_. But, gosh, I don't _feel human_. But back then it was okay. I just moved on with it. But ever since I rebuilt myself.... I'm not even _Zane_ anymore, I'm just a replica, and no one seems to realize that." I shudder. "Was that coherent?"

Y/n smiles warmly. "Am I really the second person to know this?"

"Yes."

She looks at me with her warm e/c eyes. "Zane, just because you aren't a Homo sapien doesn't mean you don't have worth or that you aren't _human_." She wrings her wrists. "Being human doesn't mean you have twenty six chromosomes, Zane, I say being human means wanting to be loved and to do what's right. So, I don't care if you're a nindroid or not, Zane. You are much more human than a lot of people out there. People like Damien and Chen, they are biologically human, but they sure as heck aren't human. You are one of the most human people I've ever met, despite being a nindroid." Y/n smiles again. "Tell me if I'm wrong, but you have worried about this because you want _love_. You think people see you differently because you're a nindroid. Well, by my definition, that makes you _human_."

_"I told you it would be fine, Zane!"_ PIXAL shouts in my head. 

I smile lightly. _Thanks, PIXAL_. "Thank you for saying that, y/n."

She beams back. "It's nothing, Zane!" I continue letting my feelings out. I trust y/n. It'll be fine. 

•••

_Your POV_

You wake up suddenly. You bolt upright, looking around. It's the middle of the night, and all the Ninja are asleep, except for one....

"Sorry, y/n," you hear Cole say. You turn around and see him at the entrance of this cave. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"No, it's fine, Cole," you say. "Why are you out of bed?"

"Couldn't sleep," Cole replies with a shrug. "I am gonna take a lil' walk. You can come, if you want."

You slip out of your cot to join Cole on his midnight walk. You walk a few minutes in silence until you ask, "So, any particular reason you can't sleep?"

"Stress."

"Because of Damien?"

"Yeah, because of Damien." He sighs. "Lloyd and I have spent hours trying to come up with a plan, but we haven't gotten far."

"Y'know, worrying means you suffer twice."

"Did you come up with that yourself? 'Cause that's pretty... uplifting."

"Naw,sli quoting Newt Scamander," you say with a smile.

"Is he the main guy from that new Harry Potter movie?" Cole asks.

"Yeah, but it's not really a Harry Potter movie, it's in the same universe, but not really connected to the Harry versus Voldemort plot," you explain. "But it is connected very much to the Dumbledore versus Grindelwald plot mentioned in the _Deathly Hallows_."

"I didn't realize you are a Harry Potter fan," Cole says with a smile.

**_Choose what fits best:_** "Heck yeah I am!" / "Not really, I just get bored." / "Ugh, my aunt was _obsessed_ , I had no choice but to be obsessed." / "Roy liked it, I don't really care though." / "I actually hate it, I only know that quote." / "I like _Fantastic Beasts_ , not the original eight movies." you say.

"Fair enough," Cole says. "I guess maybe I should listen to this Newt Salamander guy."

" _Scamande_ r," you correct.

Cole smirks. "Do you always use movie quotes to cheer people up?"

"Only when I can think of a relevant quote."

"I'm pretty sure Dumbledore and Gandalf quotes are always relevant."

"I raise your Dumbledore and Gandalf with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda."

"Yoda definitely, and I can see Obi-Wan from the original three. But have you seen _The Clone Wars_? Forget Jedi Master, Kenobi is a Master of Sass and Trolling. Not exactly inspiring"

"Which only proves my point."

•••

_Cole's POV_

I laugh at y/n's joke. This feels like the first time I've laughed in a while. I try to remember when I last laughed. I've laughed a few times at some of y/n's jokes, but only a little. Before entering this dark, gloomy realm, I don't remember laughing or having fun really. I dunno why. Sure, I'm not Jay, I don't laugh at every moment. But I can remember _Zane_ laughing more than I have. No offense to Zane, but he doesn't laugh a whole lot. Actually, I've felt like there was some bothering him, but I've never known how to approach him on that topic, so I haven't.

I'm deeply pondering this now. This isn't normal for me, but it felt natural 'til y/n started quoting Newt Scamander at me.

Come to think of it, I haven't felt _happy_ in a while.

Not that I'm depressed. I feel like the grey area between joy and melancholy, but I don't know how I got there.

But I feel happier now, of all times to be happy.

What's the difference?

Y/n.

Y/n is the difference.

I smirk. _Maybe there is some good in this dreary place._

"What has you grinning?" Y/n asks.

I turn to her and smile. "Oh, nothing. I'm just happier than I've been in a long time."

"Oh, really? Why is that?" she asks.

"Oh, ya know, there's good in the world, y/n, and it's worth fighting for," I say as I grin.

"Oh, so now you're quoting _The Lord of the Rings_?"

"And, it's not a Gandalf quote. 'Cause when he speaks heart to heart, Samwise Gamgee is just as if not more inspiring."

"True that," y/n says. "I raise that non-Gandalf quote with this: 'If more of us valued food and cheer and song over hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.'"

"Thorin? From _The Hobbit_?" I ask for the sake of clarification.

"Yep, it's from _The Battle of Five Armies_ ," y/n clarifies.

"So, has this become a non-Gandalf _Lord of the Rings_ or _Hobbit_ quote contest?" I ask.

"It would seem so. That makes it your turn."

I think for a moment. Luckily, these are my favorite movies. "'It is useless to meet revenge with revenge: it will heal nothing.' Courtesy of Frodo."

"Ooh, good one. 'Deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.' Aragon, son of Arathorn."

"Noice. 'Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.' Lady Galadriel."

"Love that one! 'It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door…You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.'"

Y/n smiles as she fiddles with her necklace. "'A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day!' Gotta love 'em Aragorn quotes!"

"Agreed. Speaking of Aragorn, 'All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes, a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king.' Not in the movies, but I like it. A poem about Aragorn." I say.

We continue this little game of finding good quotes from JRR Tolkien that aren't said by Gandalf. Some are inspiring, but others are like 'They come in pints?'" We have a conversation about second breakfast, quoting Aragorn, Merry, and Pippin, of course. And all throughout, I notice how y/n makes me happy.

•••

_Your POV_

You've had quite the week, getting ready for the attack on Damien. Everything from holding hands to learning a secret to having a quote contest however you term whatever happened with Kai. In two days, you'll leave with the Ninja to finally pull an offense against Damien. You hope those days aren't packed full with more weirdness. 

You are sitting alone in the main "room," legs crossed with your back against the cold, stone wall behind you, your hands cradling your head. Stress has given you a headache, and you unfortunately procure get any Advil at the moment. The only thing that can help is water, and you've already had several cups of water in the past half hour. In your shoes, your toes are tapping at what is probably thirty-second notes (VERY SHORT). Plus, it's at a fast tempo. It's a stress habit of yours.

Lloyd suddenly walks in. It takes a couple of seconds for him to see you in the corner. "Hey, uh, y/n, we need to talk."

"No matter the context, that sentence has never meant anything good to anyone ever in existence," you say.

Lloyd smiles wanly as he sits down in front of you. "This is the one exception of the rule." He reaches out and puts a reassuring hand on your thigh as he says, "Trust me, everything is fine, y/n."

"Okay then, wassup?"

"In forty-eight hours we're gonna go attack Damien. How are you holding up?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," you say as you wipe your sweaty palms on your pants. Your voice sounds flat.

Lloyd's facial expression can  be interpreted as, "Really?" "Uh huh. Yeah, I _totally_ am going ta believe that, y/n," he says.

"No, seriously Lloyd, I'm good," you lie, your heart racing, eyes widening, and voice flat.

"You're not a very good liar, y/n," Lloyd says.

"Okay, fine, I admit, I'm nervous!"

"I'd be worried if you weren't," he compassionately says. "I, um, I understand how you feel. The whole 'Ninja Know No Fear' thing, I'm calling BS on that. Every time we go on a mission, we all are terribly nervous, running different scenarios through our head. 'What if we can't save them?' 'What if I don't do my part?' 'What if something happens to one of us?' And many more."

"Then how do you guys do it? How do you constantly run head on into danger?" you ask.

Lloyd shrugs. "All of the 'what if's,' we have to push past them. Are we still nervous? Oh, heck yeah we are! But, despite the fear, we know we have to do it. We're fighting for a reason, every time there's a new battle to be fought, there's a new reason to fight."

"What's your reason now?" You stare into his sparkling emerald eyes, entranced by him. You must have spent enough time with him for him to adequately assess your feelings and emotions. His eyes are full of compassion, compassion for _you_. Your heart skips a beat as he answers your question.

"Isn't it obvious, y/n? _You_ are the reason!"

•••

_Lloyd's POV_

What with how y/n looks at me now, I suddenly become very self aware of my hand sprawled across her leg. I feel like I should move it, but I don't know how to do that without drawing attention to it. I awkwardly keep it there, glancing back at it nervously every once in a while. Y/n is looking into my eyes with her warm, dark/light eyes, which are full of surprise.

_"I_ am?" she asks.

I laugh. "Is that even a question, y/n? Why else would I be in this kriffing dimension if it weren't for _you_?"

"To stop Damien, because he might hurt other people," she says.

"Nope, Damien was specifically after you, there's no one else is in his scope," I argue. "We came because of _you_ , y/n, there's no other reason." I smile at y/n. "You're selfless, y/n, but sometimes, you need to be a little selfish and do something for yourself. Do you want to be forever free of Damien Malcom?"

"Yes," she says in a heartbeat.

"Then use that desire to override the fear," I say. I give y/n a warm smile. "And you won't be alone either, y/n, we're all gonna look out for you. If anything happens, we'll come help you like _that_ ," I say snapping my fingers as I say the final word. 

Never have I felt this way. I want y/n to feel _okay_. To feel _safe_. That's a lot to ask for, especially here and now. That last part though, about us watching out for her, is especially true. I want to _protect_ her. I don't want anything bad to happen to her. Y/n's already been through enough lately, she doesn't need anymore pain. 

I promise myself that I will not let Damien lay a hand on her, to protect her with my dying breath.

"What if it doesn't work out, and, and _he_ gets me again?" Y/n asks, her voice trembling with fear. 

I tighten my assuring grip on her leg. "Over my dead body! And the dead bodies of Jay, Cole, Kai, and Zane!"

She moves her hand to cover mine. "I, I am _scared_ , Lloyd."

I reach over and pull her body close to mine and gather her in my arms in a warm embrace. I feel an odd feeling in my chest as I do. "It'll be alright, y/n, it'll be alright."

•••

_Your POV_

Tomorrow you and the Ninja will attack Damien Malcom. You have one day of peace. Everyone is taking it easy today, preparing for the battle of tomorrow.

You ponder your time spent in this little cave. You've been here for what feels like a century, associating with the Ninja in every waking moment. The past week has been...eventful though...

You think back to when you had last trained with Kai. You didn't realize you were using that much force! Enough force to knock Kai to the ground, and send you falling with him! Falling on top of him! You want to forget it, but part of you has no regrets. You had a certain elated feeling when it happened. Part of you wants _more_.

You fast forward to your experience with Jay. Holding his hand for a solid ten minutes, sitting alone at the hidden pond! How did that happen? Whatever, you wanted to continue after that moment of realization, and so did Jay. You also had a warm feeling in your chest that expanded throughout your body.

Later, Zane had confided a heavy truth with you, something only you, Zane, and PIXAL know. You have since tried to help Zane feel human. Every time you do, your heart races and you feel a tad happier.

Yu managed to relieve Cole from some of his stress. And you had an epic quote battle as well! All throughout the midnight escapade, you felt yourself blushing and you were glad it was too dark to see your skin properly. 

And yesterday, as you contemplated different scenarios where everything goes terribly wrong and you end up inside your cell again, Lloyd came to comfort you. The look in his eyes and his words about how he is fighting for you made butterflies flutter in your stomach. 

Then it all clicks.

_Oh, goodness, I'm such an idiot!_ you think. _I_ _ **like**_ _them!_

You shake your head in shock. _No, no, no! I promised Roy I'd never love again! I can't have feelings for all five of them!_

But you can't deny it. You're falling for the Ninja.

•••

_Kai's POV_

I can't help but reflect on y/n's and my most recent sparring session. I don't know why, but I wish it could happen again. It was incredibly awkward, but it felt _amazing_. 

Her seated on my waist, fingers entwined in mine, hand gingerly holding my hurt jaw as gently as possible. I want _more_ , but it's not like I can ask for that, can I? No, it is the _past_ , and I should worry about tomorrow.

No matter what, my thoughts stray back to y/n in this sense. I haven't been like this since Skylar.

Wait.

Am I in love with y/n?

After a moment of consideration, I conclude that I am.

•••

_Jay's POV_

I still cannot believe I held y/n's hand! And she allowed it, and let it last as long as possible! Oh, am I glad I took her to the pond.

For a while now, I've known I like her. But I feel so incredibly guilty. I know it's been a while for me, but just a week ago in Ninjago I was dating Nya. When we get back to Ninjago, I don't want to hurt Nya by how I interact with y/n.

I need to conceal this. But can I?

One thing's for sure. I'm not denying this.

•••

_Zane's POV_

Ever since I told y/n my secret, she has made it her responsibility to make me feel more human at every opportunity. I'm not complaining. I have felt much more human. 

I realize something, but before PIXAL can see it, I bury it in my neural network, hidden in the circuitry. Not even she can learn this.

I sigh. 

I _like_ y/n, and nothing can change that.

•••

_Cole's POV_

I sigh and curse at my heart.

I _like_ y/n.

I have for a while, I suppose, but I never noticed until now. 

But she lost her boyfriend not too long ago. I can't _flirt_ with her! That's just _rude_! She needs time to cope, and Damien rudely interrupted her coping process when he abducted her. 

But still, she does have a sense of humor that isn't overkill, unlike Jay.

•••

_Lloyd's POV_

_O v e r  m y  d e a d  b o d y!_

I wake up, bolt upright, and look around anxiously. When I see no threats, I relax a little, drawing my hand through my sweaty blonde hair. _Just a dream, Lloyd, just a dream!_

I dreamt that the mission had gone south. The team was dead, all of them. Y/n was unconscious, but tossed and turned in her sleep. I stood between y/n and Damien, the latter laughing darkly.

"G i v e  u p,  G r e e n  N i n j a!" Damien had said. "N o  m a t t e r  w h a t,  y / n  w i l l  b e  _m i n e_!  W i t h  h e r  h e l p,  m y  p o w e r  w i l l  e x p a n d,  a n d  n o  o n e,  n o t  e v e n  h e r  p r e c i o u s  N i n j a,  c a n  s t o p  m e!"

"O v e r  m y  d e a d  b o d y!" I had shouted in reply. At which point, I watched helplessly as Damien killed my dream-self. Before my life left my body, I watched as Damien stepped over me and lifted y/n's unconscious body in his arms. Y/n woke up then, and screamed, though I couldn't hear it. She struggled to get out of Damien's grasp, but couldn't break free. Damien carried her away, as she kicked and screamed, tears streaking down her face. They went through a portal, and I woke up.

I turn to where y/n sleeps peacefully. She's on her side, facing away from me. Her chest rises and falls at a slow, gentle pace. 

I would do anything to protect her.

I started to realize that I love her earlier today. I think my nightmare proves it. I'll do anything to prevent my dream from becoming reality. Damien won't ever hurt y/n again.

•••

_Damien's POV_

"Sir, shouldn't we be looking for the girl?" one of my inferiors asks.

"Patience, I already know where she is. I've known this entire time. Don't worry, we don't have to go there. Soon enough, the Ninja will bring her to me."


	19. The Journey

_Your POV_

You stumble across the rocks as you climb across the hilly terrain between the cave and Damien. Before you can fall down, Cole steadies you. "You good?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine," you say, climbing further. Cole nods and cautiously climbs as well. "Remind me again why we're walking?"

"We can't let Damien know we're coming to him," Zane says. "We flew as far as we can. His base is only a few miles away."

"A few very perilous miles away," Lloyd points out.

"Better than getting shot out of the sky," Kai reasons.

You hoist yourself on top of the hill with the help of Jay. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it!" he says enthusiastically. You smile, amazed by how Jay is always cheerful. 

You look across the valley. "Considering this realm is a bunch of shiz, the view isn't too bad," you say jokingly.

Zane points across the small valley. "You see that building?"

"Yeah."

"That's where Damien is," Cole says. "Well, where he kept you. Let's hope he's still there."

"I'm picking up heat signatures from that side of the valley," Zane informs.

"Then that's where he is," Kai says. 

You take in a shaky breath. "How long until we get there?"

"I estimate that we'll be there before nightfall," Zane says.

"Good. I don't want us out here at night," Lloyd says. "It's bad enough during the day." You shudder, recalling what the Ninja had told you about the life forms of this realm.

Jay gives you a comforting smile. "Let's go get this over with, shall we?"

•••

_Cole's POV_

I aid y/n in going into the valley. The valley has enough cover that a watchman on Damien's prison would have to know we are here to be able to find us. The hills are very rocky, and very easy to stumble across, as y/n is.

Occasionally, y/n will look at Damien's base worriedly, horror in her eyes. She'd quickly look away and continue moving. Her muscles strain as she makes her way down.

"If you need it, we can stop for a bit," I suggest.

"No, no, we need to keep moving," y/n says tiredly.

"Y/n, we have plenty of time, we can have a break," Lloyd says.

"If I stop now, I don't think I'll have the courage to keep going." Her voice shakes as she glances at our destination. "Besides, it's not too bad."

Jay smiles at her. "Well, you must be a better hiker than I am." Y/n rolls her eyes and smiles back.

"Once we reach the valley, the way will be easy, at least until he have to go uphill again," Zane tells us. Looking over the route we designated, I conclude that Zane is correct.

"We'll make it there in no time," Kai says.

Our group falls silent. I use this time to ponder. I really like y/n, but I have no idea what y/n feels of me. I don't know what y/n's feelings are, but I'm starting to guess what some other people's feelings are...

I can't be certain, but it's been looking a lot like the other Ninja are flirting with y/n. I know, it sounds crazy, how can six of us all be flirting with one girl? I don't know. But I think that's what's happening. The way everyone looks at her and talks to her, that's not normal for them. 

I really hope I'm wrong. Jay and I have already been in a love triangle with Nya, and it almost destroyed our friendship. I can't imagine what will happen, now that we're all in a love tri—no, not a triangle—hexagon? Star? Net? I have no idea what we're in. But I don't want the Ninja to fall apart just because we're all crushing on the same girl. Been there, done that. I sigh, and hope for the best.

•••

_Zane's POV_

_"You seem troubled, Zane,"_ PIXAL says.

I hurriedly come up with an excuse, knowing full well what is wrong and why I can't let PIXAL know. _I'm starting to see the seeds of disaster_ , I think to PIXAL.

_"I don't see them."_

_Pay attention to how the other Ninja are acting toward y/n._

After a slight moment, PIXAL responds. _"Do all four of them like y/n?"_

_It would appear so._

_"And you're worried that this'll cause contention among them?"_

_Remember how Jay and Cole acted when they both liked Nya?_

She pauses. _"I see your point. This might not end well. As a side note, y/n is trying to get your attention, Zane."_

"Earth to Zane," y/n says.

I snap out of my thoughts. "Sorry, yes?"

"Are you okay? You look very concerned."

I smile at her, quickly deciding whether I should tell her or not. _"It doesn't seem to be that y/n knows how the others feel about her,"_ PIXAL says, trying to be helpful.

"Just nervous, I suppose." I'm not lying, really. I'm nervous about attacking Damien and nervous about whatever is going on in everyone else's heads and hearts. 

"How on Earth am I better at hiding my nervousness than a nindroid?"

"That I would not know. How are you holding up?"

"I have no frickin' idea, Zane, no frickin' idea," y/n says.

 _"Based off of her facial expressions, she's anxious and terrified,"_ PIXAL says.

 _I don't need an AI to tell me that. It's kind of obvious_ , I admit to PIXAL. I give y/n a sympathetic look. "On my life, I promise you, y/n, Damien won't take you again."

Y/n looks at me sadly. "I know, I'm worried that the "on my life" part will happen."

•••

_Lloyd's POV_

_Well, gosh darn it!_ I think, seeing how the others are acting. _What are the odds, that we all like the same girl? This can't end well, can it?_

The others have, quite obviously, been flirting with y/n the entire time we've been getting to Damien's. We're almost there now. It has taken very little time to cross the valley, it being so easy to navigate and to travel across. The hill leading up to Damien is harder, but not impossible. I'm much more worried about everyone's romantic interest. 

Am I jealous? I'll admit I probably am. Compared to the others, I've had basically nothing romantic happen to me. Cole and Jay had Nya, Zane had PIXAL, and Kai had Skylar. Me? Nothing. 

But I'm more worried about the team at the moment. After watching Cole and Jay fight over Nya, I really don't want that for myself or any of my friends. Besides, if y/n is into one of us, shouldn't she be with that one? And if she doesn't like any of us, we should be able to move on, right? I really don't want the team to go _Captain America: Civil War_ over y/n.

Because, if we aren't united, we won't be able to stop Damien.

And if we can't stop Damien, he'll kidnap y/n again.

•••

_Kai's POV_

_Freakin' heck! How did this happen? How do we all like y/n?_ I think. _How? What are the odds?_

Am I jealous? Yes, gosh darn it, I am! Get over it. I've always been hot headed. 

I sigh. _You can freak out over this later, Kai. Right now, you need to stop Damien from ever getting his hands on y/n again._

I've seen contention over romantic interest in the team before. Jay and Cole both liked Nya, and I didn't help sort any of that out, being the overprotective brother I was. At first I thought it would roll over, with the attack on New Ninjago City, Zane's death, and the Tournament of Elements happening. But it just got worse. I would appreciate it if that didn't happen again right now, not with y/n's freedom on the line. Once this is all over, we can figure this out. But, right now, we need to focus on stopping Damien and getting back to Ninjago.

•••

_Jay's POV_

_Well, this will turn out_ splendidly, I think sarcastically.  _I_ totally _want to almost lose my friendship again because I am in a love triangle or whatever shape this is now,_ totally. 

Cole and I were best friends before we had to fight over Nya. And our grudge lasted way too long for our good. And we almost lost our friendship entirely. And now that can happen again, but not just with Cole, but with Zane, Kai, and Lloyd too! _Lovely!_

And Cole's and my grudge blinded us against the bigger problems of the Overlord and Chen. If we all start fighting over y/n, things will not turn out well. And too much is at risk for things to not turn out well. 

I glance at y/n as she climbs the hill. She is determined to face her fear of facing off with Damien. I admire her for her courage, courage that, if I were in her shoes, I don't know if I'd have. With my help, she makes it to where we want to be: the rocks surrounding Damien's base. Now, we can formulate a plan on getting in there.

"You sure you're good?" I whisper to y/n.

"Considering the circumstances, I'm doing great."

•••

_Your POV_

_Well, I'm screwed_ , you think. _I made an oath, I swore to Roy I wouldn't get in another relationship to honor his memory!_

You and the Ninja observe the building. "Damien's made security tougher," Zane informs you. "Before there were two guards per entrance. Now there's six."

"One for each of us?" Kai suggests.

"I'd recommend this entrance," Zane says, pointing to the doorway in front of us, guarded by six men.

"So we take out the guards and take their clothes again. Zane, can you and PIXAL hack into the cameras remotely?" Lloyd says.

"We can try," Zane says. "Then, I recommend we get a night of sleep before we attack Damien."

"We'll work that out once we get in," Kai says.

"Sound good, y/n?" Jay asks.

"Yep, let's go."

"We'll wait until their shift changes," Zane suggests. No one argues against it.

What am I supposed to do now that I'm crushing on the Ninja, beyond that of a fangirl?

You sigh, reminiscing your relationship with Roy. _He always wanted me to be happy. And he still wants me to be happy, I think. Does that mean I was wrong in making an oath?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> expect another update around July 26! Love y'all and Ninjago!


	20. The Entry

_Your_ _POV_

_"No_ _matter_ _what, I_ _want_ _you_ _to_ _be_ _happy,"_ _Roy_ _said._ _You_ _two_ _were_ _sitting_ _on_ _the_ _couch_ _together,_ _almost_ _ready_ _to_ _begin_ _your_ _traditional_ Star Wars _marathon._ _Right_ _before_ _a_ _new_ _movie_ _came_ _out,_ _you_ _always_ _had_ _a_ _marathon_ _of_ _all_ _the_ _other_ _movies._

 _"I_ _know_ _you_ _do."_ _You_ _didn't_ _know_ _why_ _Roy_ _was_ _saying_ _this._ _It_ _seemed_ _out_ _of the blue._

 _"I_ _know_ _you_ _know, but,_ _just_ _listen._ _I'll_ _always_ _want_ _you_ _to_ _be_ _happy._ _If_ _that_ _means_ _we_ _become_ _friends,_ _then_ _I'm_ _okay_ _with_ _that."_

 _"What_ _has_ _gotten_ _into_ _you?"_ _You_ _were_ _worried_ _about_ _him,_ _now_ _that_ _he_ _was_ _saying_ _things_ _about_ _you_ _breaking_ _up_ _with_ _him. "Are_ _you_ _alright?"_

 _"I_ _totally_ _am. I_ _just_ _want_ _you_ _to_ _know_ _that_ _I_ _love_ _you._ _And_ _because_ _I_ _love_ _you, I_ _want_ _you_ _to_ _know_ _that_ _if_ _something_ _happens_ _and_ _you_ _don't_ _want_ _us_ _to_ _be_ _a thing,_ _then_ _you_ _should_ _stop_ _it. I_ _won't_ _try_ _to_ _stop_ _you_. _I_ _just_ _don't_ _want_ _you_ _to_ _sacrifice_ _your_ _happiness_ _for_ _me, y/n."_

 _You_ _smiled. "Thanks,_ _but_ _I'm_ _not_ _leaving_ _you_ _any_ _time_ _soon."_ _You_ _curl_ _against_ _Roy_ _and_ _hug_ _him_ _tight. "I_ _love_ _you."_

 _"I_ _love_ _you_ _too, y/n."_

 _"Let's_ _stop_ _being_ _sappy_ _for_ _a_ _second_ _and_ _turn_ _on_ _the movie."_

Your hands shake slightly as you remember this moment with Roy. It had stuck with her since that day. At least, that's what you thought. Now that you're thinking about it, you totally forgot all about it this past year. Roy had told you to do what you need to do to find happiness. Even if that meant finding love somewhere else.

 _Maybe_ _I_ _should_ _actually_ _listen_ _to_ _him_ _right_ _now_ , you think. _But_ _that_ _leads_ _to_ _a_ _new_ _problem._ _Now_ _I_ _have_ _to_ _choose._ _And_ _what_ _if_ _none_ _of_ _them_ _reciprocate_ _my feelings?_ You don't know if you can deal with this stress now. _I_ _should_ _wait_ _until_ _this_ _is_ _all_ _hopefully_ _over_ _to_ _do_ _anything._ _Hopefully_ _it_ _will_ _end_ _well_.

Which leads into another problem, you have to face Damien again, the man of your nightmares. And not die. Or get captured. Or let any of the Ninja die or get caught. And find out how to get back to Ninjago. Your hands tremble just thinking about it. But you have to do it. You have to go home and get rid of Damien Malcom.

 _So_ _many_ _problems_ _all_ _at_ _once!_ you think, fairly overwhelmed by it all. You never would have thought you'd be in a situation like this. _Why_ _did_ _my_ _life_ _have_ _to_ _go_ _down_ _the_ _drain_ _because_ _of Damien,_ _that_ _son_ _of a gun?_

You observe the other Ninja. You all are waiting for a shift change, using this time to mentally prepare for your attack on Damien. So much is at stake for you and the Ninja. You can't afford to lose. If you lose, the Ninja will be killed and you'll be taken again for whatever crazy plan Damien has. You shudder at the thought of being caught again.

"Guys," Lloyd says, nodding his head towards the door. The shift was changing. There are six guards that are taking the places of the previous ones. "You guys ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," you answer.

Lloyd takes a deep breath. "Let's do it then."

The Ninja shout "Ninjago" as they burst into colorful twisters, running into the guards before the guards could react. You run toward them, ready to help in any way you can. Everyone grabs an unconscious guard and drags them toward the rocks. You turn around as the Ninja take the outer clothes off of the guards. They may be evil, but they still deserve some privacy.

Jay hands you the smallest guards uniform. "Might still be a bit big on you, but we'll find a way to make it work." You thank him and walk a bit away from the Ninja, behind some more rocks, to put the guard uniform on.

It is kind of baggy and the sleeves and legs are a bit long. You try to hide your gender the best you can. You don't have anything to bind your breasts, so you do your best. You roll up your sleeves and legs. You make sure the hat covers your face.

When you return, the Ninja are all dressed as well. You take the guards' weapons and the Ninja tie the wrists and ankles of the guards, an attempt to stop them from informing Damien and the other guards about them.

"You ready?" Jay asks with concern.

"No. Let's get this over with," you answer. You roll back your shoulders. _To_ _heck_ _with_ _it._

You and the Ninja slip through the doors. You walk in the middle of the group to hide yourself. You don't want anyone recognizing you as the random girl Damien really wants for some reason.

You hear Zane grimace next to you. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I probably just need some small repairs."

"Are you sure? If it's something bigger, you could get hurt, and if you're hurt-"

"Y/n, it'll be alright. It's just like a mild headache. Shouldn't I be the one worrying about you? I mean, you are returning to where you were held captive. Are _you_ alright?"

"As alright as I'll ever be, I guess," you say with a shrug. "Just, don't die on me."

"I have no intention to do so."

"In here guys," Cole says, leading all of us into an empty room. We slip in without anyone seeing.

"Alright, Zane will need some time to download the information on the building. It could take some time though, so we should maybe think about resting," Jay explains.

"Everyone into the vents, just in case," Kai says, pulling the cover off of the vents. The vents are very wide, wide enough that a person could sit comfortably. You and the Ninja crawl in, putting the cover back on. You all crawl deeper in until no one could see anyone of you through the grates on the cover.

Once the coast is clear, Zane sits down and starts talking to PIXAL, the AI that Zane befriended just before the second rise of the Overlord. They begin hacking into the system in the building, destroying firewalls.

You and the rest of the Ninja sit on either side of him. Kai on the far left, then you, Zane, Cole, Lloyd, and Jay. Your exhaustion begins to catch up with you, now that your adrenaline has gone down a tad. You don't want to distract Zane from his job, so you curl up against Kai as you let sleep take you.

•••

_Zane's POV_

_"_ _We_ _are_ _95%_ _complete_ _with_ _download_ _,"_ PIXAL says.

"Good, let's do the remaining 5% fast," I say. I'm speaking aloud with PIXAL because that requires less work. That allows me to focus more on the task at hand. It also hurts less.

It's really quite odd. How can a nindroid feel pain? I don't know how, but I've always felt pain. My father just was able to make me...human.

Normally, "thinking" to PIXAL isn't painful. But everything has hurt lately. Ever since they reached Damien's base. _Must be nerves_ , I think. As time has gone on, my head has hurt more and more. I want to finish the 5% as soon as possible because maybe it'll hurt less when I'm done.

_"Download complete."_

"Thank you, PIXAL." I turn to Cole, the one still awake. "I've finished."

"Good. You wake up Kai and y/n, I got Lloyd and Jay."

I gently nudge y/n. "Y/n? It's time to wake up. I finished downloading everything we need," I say softly. Y/n groans as she wakes up. Her movements succeed in waking Kai up as well.

"You done, Zane?" Kai asks.

"Yes, I am. We need to get moving."

Y/n looks at me with concern. "How's your head?"

"Better," I lie.

"Cut the crap, I know you're lying," y/n says. Her tone is surprisingly gentle despite the words she says.

"Wait, what's going on?" Cole asks.

"Earlier Zane said his head was hurting a bit. And it's pretty obvious it's gotten worse," y/n explains briefly.

"I'll be fine," I promise. "It's probably nothing. I'll look into it when we get back to Ninjago."

"Alright," y/n says, clearly worried.

"I'll lead us to a good vantage point," I say with determination. I crawl up front. Everyone follows me across the air vents. _"Can you run diagnostics, PIXAL? Just in case."_

_"Of course, Zane."_

•••

_Your POV_

You follow close behind Zane through the vents. _I need to stop worrying over Zane_. You can't help but have a sinking feeling, like something will go wrong. _It's just nerves! I'm nervous, this close to Damien, that's all! Everything will turn out alright, hopefully!_

"Agh! Oh, gosh! Ow!" Zane says as he falls to the ground, arms wrapping around his head.

"Oh my gosh, Zane, what's wrong?!" you say as you lean over him and try to assess the damage.

"My head, it, agh! It hurts!" Everyone is coming close, trying to help. Suddenly Zane's face pales. "It, it's Damien! He hired someone to make a machine to kill a nindroid! Agh!"

"Where, Zane, where?" Jay asks. He sounds just as worried as you.

"Machine...t-there," Zane says, pointing to the nearest way out.

"Y/n, stay with Zane. The rest of us will destroy the machine," Lloyd says. You nod and wish the others good luck.

As Lloyd, Kai, Jay, and Cole jump out of the vents, you move into a better position. You cradle Zane's head in your arms. "It's gonna be alright, Zane, it has to be," you say, holding back tears.

•••

_Zane's POV_

_"Zane, I know how to save you,"_ PIXAL says solemnly.

"H-how PIXAL?"

_"The technology is only able to destroy one AI. It's either you or me."_

"No, an-nother way," Zane says, skipping words.

_"There's no other way. The Ninja can't stop the signal in time."_

"PIXAL!"

_"It's alright, Zane. I'm supposed to be dead anyway, and I don't have a body anymore. You need to live and save y/n. And stop Damien."_

"P-please, PIXAL!"

_"Zane, live a happy life. Try being with y/n. I want you to be happy."_

"You know?"

_"Yes, and I'm fine with that, Zane. Y/n is perfect for you."_

"How?"

 _"You're_ so _obvious. Plus, I've seen you flirt up close. But I knew you didn't want to talk about it, so I didn't."_

"So s-sorry."

_"Don't apologize, Zane! I am honest when I say that I believe y/n is better suited for you than I."_

"Others?"

_"Yes, the others were flirting with her. It's her choice, who she is with. But you might be able to win her over, Zane."_

"C-can't lose you."

 _"And y/n can't lose you, Zane. She's been through too much loss and pain. I doubt she can handle your death."_ PIXAL sighs. _"Let me do this for you, Zane."_

"Al-alright," I stutter, finally defeated.

 _"I love you, Zane. Always remember that. I'm doing this because I love you,"_ PIXAL says before she sacrifices herself.

"I love you too, PIXAL. Goodbye, old friend."

I can no longer feel PIXAL's presence. My headache is gone. I curl into y/n's arms and cry.

"PIXAL, she, she's gone. Gone so I can live."

Y/n pulls me into an embrace. "I know, I know, I'm here, I'm here," she whispers.


End file.
